Pia Riverola is a solo traveler and photographer who was born in Barcelona. Her success on photography evolves all the time as she expands her limits to go out of her comfort zone and travel more. Her experiences while traveling helped her to find her style since she mostly reflects her emotions and with each project she only become more successful at it. How she reflects her emotions through the photography creates a nostalgic effect which gave her a global success. Photography has been the way for her to translate her emotions and her talent win most people’s approval. She express her process as an organic one since both her life and projects are quite spontaneous.
Mexico is the place where you decided to be a photographer, what was the occasion made you realized it?
I moved from Barcelona to New York for a year, and then to Mexico right when I finished my studies. I didn’t have much professional experience but the country itself inspired me to take more photos, search for stories that were interesting and really new to me, I discovered new architecture and landscapes traveling around the country, and loved it's culture and heritage. Very organically the photos that I shared started getting attention and I began working on editorial and commercial projects while developing my style.
You manage to capture calming moments of everyday, which moments inspire you most?
I always have my camera with me when i'm walking around, especially early morning and late afternoon, right before sunset. Both times of the day are very inspiring for me, the morning because it's quiet and calm, and that translates in my photography, and in the afternoon with its light and life depending on where I am which give a sense of place to everyday moments.
You’ve collected different cameras for your works, what are the qualities you regard for a camera in your personal projects?
I shoot both in film and digital, but mostly film for personal projects. I used to shoot a lot with my 35mm camera because its light and convenient, very easy to carry and easy to load. But lately I’ve started shooting more of my personal work on medium format, it’s a bit heavier, has less frames and also slower to load the film but definitely worth it for its quality, especially if I want to print afterwards.
You travel and work with global brands through the world, which project was the crowning touch for you?
I think achieving a balance shooting for both editorial publications and commercial brands was the moment that I felt most complete. Magazines give you more freedom and allow you to develop your own style and explore more unconventional techniques while commercial projects force you to learn a lot and work with bigger teams facing new challenges and gain a lot of experience.
As a person who manages to live out of her comfort zone, what are your advice for those people who don’t have the courage to do so?
The most important thing for me is not to be fearful of the unknown, which is also something I sometimes struggle with, butI try to keep working and exploring new boundaries, even if it feels like you are inexpert or raw, the more eager you are to do things the more you realize you can actually do them and learn from every experience.
