Issue #147
Federica Carlet
La Teleobiettiva
Federica Carlet is a photographer from Villa di Villa in the Veneto region of Italy. At a very early age, Federica began to show interest in photography, often stealing her father’s camera for him to find, later, the film all used up. Later on, although she didn’t pursue an artistic career, she kept growing her interest in photography by taking classes and teaching herself through online courses and by experimenting, exploring this art form, and developing her style. After moving to New York in 2008, Federica realized photography was her true identity and turned her passion into a career. Starting as a photographer’s assistant, people around her started to notice and appreciate her work, and the job offers began coming in. In a natural fashion, one job led to another and little by little Federica was able to build a solid list of contacts, which has continued to grow over the years. Federica works for several international design firms and her work has been published in Vogue, Interior Design Magazine, Surface, Abitare, Dezeen, Azure and many others. She truly believes that it is important to always invest your full energy and effort in every project, big or small. Learning is an endless process, and it is important to keep growing as a professional. While Federica’s work has been more focused on interiors projects while working mostly with architects, interior designers and furniture and design brands, another of her specialties is portraiture, because of her love of observing people, listening to their stories and capturing them with her camera, from a stolen moment on the street to a session in her studio.
I am a photographer who specializes in interiors. Most of my clients are architects, interior designers, furniture and lighting brands. I get to photograph beautiful properties like penthouses with 360 degree views of the city, and cool lofts with incredible art collections. It is so interesting to see how people choose to style their personal spaces. I also love to take portraits.
For fun I love visiting the vintage markets in the City. I have an amazing collection of vintage wood frames painted in gold. I got most of them at the Chelsea Flea Market. I also collect vintage figures. For example, I own a Tim Burton Batman from 1991, a Superman from the early 90’s, a few Mickey Mouse figures from the 80’s and many more.
I have a passion for vintage plates, especially the Limoges from France. I get them at “mother of Junk” in BK, a unique vintage store that reminds me of “libreria acqua alta” in Venice for its crazy register cashier: a messy desk full of disorganized stuff. The other things I like to collect are vintage dresses, especially silk ones with thick shoulder pads from the 80’s.
Going to the flea markets and the vintage stores is like going treasure hunting, and I find it fun and inspiring also because you get to see many cool, interesting clientele.
Love.
I met my husband in Italy while he was visiting home, in September 2007. We had one date and then he left the same night to go back to NYC, where he moved to in 2004. After that date we got to know each other through video-calls on Skype while overseas. After seen each other back and forth, I then decided to move to NYC in June 2008, we got married 2 years later.
My first year in NYC was about getting to understand my new environment and to build relationships and contacts. People are very open and friendly in NYC, it is very easy to know people but then it takes a little effort to build a solid relationship that can lasts. The city that never sleeps offers endless opportunities that sometimes is easy to get lost.
I have many, many interesting encounters with incredible people and their extraordinary stories.
The best memories though are simple yet magical, special and related to good hearts: for example, a girl I complimented on her outfit. She asked me for my number and one week later, got me the same purple jumpsuit like hers without wanting anything in return. Or that one time, on the L train when I teamed up with a homeless person who was willing to lose his own belongings to follow a girl that forgot her phone on her seat as she exited the train. I blocked the doors, to hold them open and wait for him to get back in. He was able to give the phone back to the girl! Once back on the train cart, I told everyone what happened; we all clapped for him and some of us even gave him some cash as a reward. Lastly, a very special memory I will never forget was taking part at the peaceful BLM protests, in such a dark time due to the Covid Pandemic. Amazingly, people came together and combined their voices, strength and love to fight for such an important cause. I will NEVER forget the energy I felt. Many people think New Yorkers are rude and selfish however, I think quite the opposite. I, so many times, have witnessed profound humanity, kindness, and generosity in these New Yorkers and hold many of these memories similar to those written above, very dear to my heart.
I have been living in NYC for the past 14 years, always in Brooklyn, and the last 13 years in Williamsburg specifically. I love this neighborhood and I love to walk over to the waterfront to admire the Manhattan skyline. I remember when, the first year that I was here, I got to sign a petition against the demolition of the Domino building where they used to produce the famous Domino sugar. In 2014 I also got to see the incredible sculpture made with 80 tons of white sugar by the artist Kara Walker in the defunct factory. The sculpture, with the whiteness of the sugar looked so pure and elegant in contrast to the darker side that she also wanted to represent, which was the slave trade, an integral part of the processing of sugar. The Domino building then gave its name to Domino Park. The building is still here and now it will never be gone, because they are keeping the building’s exterior structure as a landmark in the incredible Domino Park development. This location is a perfect example of how the city has evolved, changed and developed without having to cheat on her heart and roots.
About the outfit:
I wear black most of the time, especially for work to avoid reflections of myself while shooting interiors that might have reflective surfaces. The jacket is a vintage piece from Japan, with inner red silk fabric and the dress unveils the most beautiful stage of my life: pregnancy. This is the very first dress I bought while being pregnant. I hid the bump until I reached 5 months because I wanted to make sure everything was OK before sharing the good news. A few days after my most recent doctor’s visit I bought this tight, stretchy dress, ready to show off my bump. I am in a magical moment of my life, as I dreamed of this pregnancy for a while, and it hasn’t been an easy journey. I am extremely grateful and I hope I’ll become a great and cool mama.
I love portraits and I love when portraits are combined with the person’s story, I first try to make up an idea of the person by looking at just the images and then find out if the sensations I get through the visual meets with the actual bio of the person. Also I find it interesting to get to know why people choose their path in the US. I am flattered to be part of this project, I saw a sneak peak of the photos from Alexo’s camera and loved each shot. I think Alexo is very talented and I am happy I have these photos taken by him. This experience will be added to my special memories of my NYC journey.
I am proud to be Italian, and it is amazing to feel the appreciation towards our country from all the people I get to meet in a cosmopolitan city like NY, everyone seems to love our country, its beautiful towns and small villages, the food, the art, the history.
Also as an interior photographer I get to work with a lot of furniture and design brands, the Italian design is well known in the whole world and highly appreciated by everyone.
