The Sartorialist Street Photography in Milan [RF Video of the Week]

March 14, 2014

By Laura Brauer

There is no shortage of photos a fashion or street photographer could take in an elegant, bustling and artistic city like Milan, and Scott Schuman, the creative mind behind The Sartorialist, is weaving his way into the Italian street scene, camera in hand. The fashion blogger and photographer traveled overseas to discover for himself this rather exotic scene that he had only previously perused in pictures in his native Indiana.

Watching Schuman interact with his photo subjects is especially captivating, and it would be helpful for any photographers interested in street shooting to see how he does his thing—Schuman is confident, yet casual and natural. He’s watching and waiting for shutter-clicking inspiration to walk by, but he doesn’t act like a lurking predator. He blends.

Perhaps most interesting is how Schuman goes about making relationships with people who don’t speak his language, and who he doesn’t really understand either. This is surely a prevalent issue that arises during many overseas photo projects. Whenever Schuman goes to Milan, he says, he always visits fashion mogul Alessandro Squarzi. Of photographing him, Schuman explains, “Neither of us speak the other one’s language, but I think it’s the level of respect and curiosity we have for each other that breaks that barrier.”

This is the first episode of an AOL On series that documents Schuman’s travels; he also follows bull fighters in Madrid, fencing Olympic Champion Tim Moorehouse and more. Penguin published a couple anthologies of his photographs, The Sartorialist (2009) and The Sartorialist: Closer (2012).

Check out more Videos of the Week, and email Libby Peterson with submissions.