CARDIFF LIVES
“I wanted to be a stunt man when I was younger”
© MISTER P
afraid, when he got annoyed and spun around swearing and giving me the middle finger. My instinct was to photograph the moment. nfortunately, I had the picture confiscated immediately after I developed it in the dark room, but I’ve never, ever forgotten that image.
NEIL PESTICCIO We put Cardiff photographer, who is also known as Mister P, in the frame to talk Cardiff Shooters, taking pictures, and finding inspiration Neil is a photographer and founder of the Cardiff Shooters, the creative photography group whose ethos is about “connecting everyone from amateurs to professionals to share knowledge, experiences and ideas.” The group, which is open to all and includes videographers, graphic designers, creative directors, models and makeup artists. Together they work closely with local venues, businesses, and individuals to develop ideas, projects, and shoots. I did my own thing at school and was a bit of a loner, but I did get on with the majority of
people, including the teachers. When I put my mind to lesson times, I did well but I’ve always had a short attention span, so I did a fair bit of day dreaming. I wanted to be a stunt man when I was younger, probably due to watching far too many action T programmes in the 1980s. I’d bash into random things while out on my push bike just to perfect the crash landing. The first thing I ever photographed was a bully when I was ten years old. I’d been winding him up during a summer holiday club at Chapter Arts. We were doing photography and I’d been mouthy to show him I wasn’t
74 I CARDIFF LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk
I started my photography journey by taking candid pictures of people throughout the daytime in Cardiff city centre and Cardiff Bay. I look for intimate moments in conversation, the way that their actions emote what they are saying or doing in their relationship to one another in a visual conversation.
I’m constantly working with and for Cardiff Shooters. Building up the website, researching locations and potential models, arranging meets and events, and looking for companies who would like to collaborate with us. Cardiff Shooters host meets throughout the year. We work closely with local venues and businesses, such as the beautiful Insole Court, Ramp world Cardiff, the Camera Centre K and Sony to name a few.
I’ve been very lucky to collaborate with Matt Pritchard from MT ’s ir a e on numerous occasions including capturing the inside working of his Sleep When You’re Dead barber and tattoo shop. We’ve made a great friendship and I always look forward to working with him.
Our meets range from photo walks, themed shoots/portrait meets, long exposure/light trails, landscape, freestyle/sports and more. We also encourage videographers to get involved alongside the photographers as we love seeing footage from the events. Cardiff Shooters also provides a great social platform on both Instagram and Facebook, and we regularly feature local work promoting and exposing the abundance of local talent.
I’m an avid fan of Cardiff TV and get my daily dose of Sam and uke in the mornings who keep me up to date with the goings on in and around Cardiff. I use the city as a playground to experiment with new techniques and skills to see what I can creatively bring out of the dark.
I’m also a big fan of printing work, rather than just looking down at a laptop or phone screen, it’s so refreshing actually holding your work in your hands, smelling the ink, and displaying it up on the walls for people to see. It also acts as a conversation starter for visitors.
I occasionally get creative block but having such great friends with whom I can have good conversations, means we generate random ideas and keep pushing to keep bettering ourselves. Also as a street photographer all I have to do really is walk around this city to find my creative inspiration.
Our next photography exhibition is in summer this year, which will give local creatives the opportunity to showcase their works in a lush coffee shop in the heart of Cardiff called The ittle Man Coffee Co. ■ r
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