A lover of unexpected beauty

In the middle of a sentence, a glance to the side, quiet stalking, the switch to the crouch. "Here, for example, you can see two mint leaf beetles mating", explains Gianni Del Bianco between two questions in the interview. For almost 15 years, the nature photographer has been out and about in Luxembourg's meadows and forests, capturing what usually remains hidden from others. "That's the great thing about macro photography, you can bring things to people's attention that they would never have seen otherwise. The mint leaf beetle, for example, looks like a normal beetle at first glance, but when you take a closer look, you discover its many colours. It's not even an exotic, but a common species here in Luxembourg", says the photographer.

Even as a young boy, Gianni loved everything about nature. The 'sciences naturelles' as a subject, forest excursions with the school, trips to Lasauvage – the Escher always felt in harmony with his natural surroundings and still seeks the inner peace he feels here today. "In my office job as a building services planner, I work very long hours, which of course also involves stress. After work, I needed a balance at some point and nature seemed like the right way to go", says Gianni. The 34-year-old would not have thought at first that this need would develop into a true passion. "You see 100,000 things on the road and then tell your partner about them at home, but they can't do anything with it. So I thought I simply had to capture what I saw in pictures."

No bells and whistles but good working technology

In the beginning, Gianni photographed everything that came in front of his lens with his 300 euro basic SLR camera. But he soon realised that his real talent lies not in photographing architecture or people, but in photographing wildlife and its natural environment. Gianni became a landscape and macro photographer, but not without going through the typical phases of being an artist. "You see a lot of reference photographs that you can't manage yourself at the beginning. That leads to frustration, but over time you get to know people who explain things to you, and that's how it happened."

Due to his constant excursions into nature, Gianni couldn't get past the necessary equipment, because if you want to photograph outdoors, you also need proper gear. "You buy the material according to your needs and for me, it was waterproof camera equipment that can also withstand dust. You quickly move into the professional range, which means that the last ten per cent become exorbitantly expensive. You easily pay 2,000 to 3,000 euros more for it", the photographer reveals. The Canon and Nikon fan, who currently shoots with a mirrorless Canon EOS R5, doesn't think much of bells and whistles, but relies on cameras that deliver performance – and when it's needed: "For me, it's mainly important that my camera works technically. Some moments never repeat, so if an arctic fox suddenly appears in front of me on a trip to Norway, I don't want to have to pray the Lord's Prayer first to see if my camera works."