What Lauren sees may or may not be seen by others and through the use of photography she allow views into worlds they don’t know, but also views into worlds they used to know and can reminisce on.

Lauren shoots strictly 35mm because it captures emotions and feelings in a way digital photography could never. Each time Lauren takes a picture she feels like she’s putting a little piece of herself and her story into it.

People connect and relate with Lauren’s personal and intimate photography because they can feel what she’s put into it.

They relate to Lauren’s photos because we’ve all felt it, just not all of us capture it. Lauren never intended on photographing for anyone’s appreciation. She does it for herself, but the fact that she has been able to build a following off of photos that are so real and raw to her, is beautiful. Lauren wants her pictures to make people feel and think.

I see all these young photographers with their plastic and disposable cameras who refuse to use digital for some sort of absurd nostalgia for something they never knew. I see photographers making zines and books of mediocre snapshot photography because they haven’t shot enough. They might have some great images but often it’s luck and they are almost always surrounded by mediocre images.

Cameras are tools and refusing to shoot film or refusing to shoot digital is only limiting yourself and your growth. I keep a 35mm point and shoot on me at all times, but I always have my iPhone handy as well. I bring many cameras to every shoot because they all serve a purpose even if that purpose is just to make me think about the shoot differently.

With my digital SLR I can take hundreds of photos in an hour. Every year I shoot more photos than some of history’s greatest photographers shot in their entire lives. I can see light in ways I never could before I shot a million photos. I can immediately figure out what I’m doing wrong and I can try things I never would with film.

With my 35mm point and shoot I am trying to capture a moment in time. I love the auto focus and the on camera flash and the ability to pull it out in any situation. I am trying to get these moments between shoots and between poses. Nothing feels more “real” than film and no one pays attention when you are holding a tiny point and shoot camera.

With my 35mm SLR I want to slow down. I want to focus by hand and check the light readings and think about the process of photography. Instead of just popping off shots I take my time to compose and breathe. I usually keep black and white film in my Leica M6. I much prefer color generally, I think most people use black and white because it’s easier, but shooting in black and white changes my thinking. The color of light doesn’t matter, but you have to think about all of the light in a different way. Shooting black and white film through an SLR changes everything and it makes my other work better because of it.

With my iPhone I shoot everything. People ask me what camera they should buy and I almost always tell them to just use their damn phone. Unless you are gonna drop a few grand on a camera you have a pretty fucking good one in your pocket. Once I had a camera break on a shoot and I shot the whole assignment with my phone and I am not sure anyone even noticed. Plus every working photographer needs a billion social media accounts and your phone camera is obviously the easiest way to do that. Plus I like shooting in a square format on my phone because it’s just another way to force yourself to think about composition.

And lastly my Instax Wide camera. I mostly shoot instant film when I am shooting nudes. I just did a book called Instaxxx (instaxxx.co) and it’s entirely nude instant film. I get on people for being overly nostalgic when it comes to using film, but god damn there is just something really nice about seeing nudes on instant film. All the first nudes I ever shot were on Polaroid and it just conveys an emotion that I don’t think I could get anywhere else.

Digital photography is so great for so many reasons, but the most important one is that you can practice over and over again. Film is great because it has a look that digital just can’t match and a 35mm photo taken 100 years ago looks pretty damn similar to one taken today. Photos I took just ten years ago look like shit because digital cameras weren’t good enough yet. Just imagine what we will be thinking about photos today. I don’t want my photos to feel dated by technology.

Tell us a bit about yourselves and where you grew up and how you guys got into photography

We are a husband and wife team of photographers from a little narrow-minded town in Italy. We are self-taught photographers and we approach photography together as a hobby, as a mean of escaping from reality and to have a nice time together. Now, photography has totally merged with our lives and is our profession at the moment!

What is it about the medium that appeals most?

We are film-only photographers, because we can’t see digital photography as “photography”.
It is only data, while film is magic. Our favourite camera is the Contax G2!! But we also do instant photography and usually use Polaroid and Fuji Instax cameras.

How and/or where did you learn your craft? And do you feel you need a degree in photography to pursue a career in photography?

We are self-taught photographers, we simply started taking photos and we’re also completely involved in photography and collaborations with other artists. I think it is simply because we have a vision, we have something to tell that comes out off-hand, and the will to grow and mature as photographers, as persons and as a couple, pushed ourselves to always go beyond our own boundaries and fears. So we firmly think that it is not so essential to have a degree if you have a passion in this field.

Who or what inspires you?

We are inspired by music and cinema, especially by the 90’s, when we were both teenagers!! We are also inspired by photographers like Nan Goldin, Richard Kern, Terry Richardson, Juergen Teller, Todd Hido and Ren Hang.

How would you describe your overall aesthetics?

Our aesthetic is based on real life, real people, home feeling, we are not interested in objective beauty, we are interested in personal attitude and gaze, we love capturing girls that are comfortable with their own body and want to make fun of their own sexuality without blind prejudices.

What’s been your career-highlight so far?

Every goal we reached has always been important for us and pushed us to go on with more passion.
Maybe the most important one, is having one of our pictures with Tessa Kuragi exhibited at the Museum of Sex in New York.

What are your hopes and dreams for the foreseeable future?

We hope to never loose our inspiration and always find a way to  renew it! Mainly projects where we captured our girls and their relationship with their own body and sexuality.

Who would you most like to shoot?

Sasha Grey and Asia Argento! 

Where in the world would you most like to take photos?

Always in the same place, our place, where everything was born and where everything starts everyday, with our music and our books and movies and our love inside these four walls.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

We perfectly know that these are such high and ambitious dreams, but sooner or later we’ll get it!!
Juergen Teller, Richard Kern, Terry Richardson!!!

For this Death Before Digital Exclusive, we sat down with Raphael Buehlmann. A multidimensional artist hailing from Switzerland. 

I started using a camera when I was about 18 years old. I made many pictures of my girlfriend at the time. Back then I used the pictures to paint her afterwards. I really hated the way the pictures looked though. It was a shitty digital camera but all i could afford at that time. Later i started drawing and painting more and more girls and I eventually could afford a better camera to make pictures of them first. But even those pictures where completely shit and I hated pretty much everything about them. The only good that came from the pictures was the fact that the paintings always looked better than the pictures. 

A few years later I bought an analog camera for my girlfriend at the time because she was interested in photography in general and it only cost about $50. I ended up using the camera way more than she did and for the first time I realised that the pictures itself where kind of good and that I didn’t need the extra step of transforming them into a painting or drawing anymore. I still did, but often lost some of it’s beauty without giving something more exciting. So it slowly became clear to me. Sometimes photography can be stronger than paintings. I have done an apprenticeship as scenic painter at “Schauspielhaus Zurich” and in those 4 years I always got told that a photograph would never be more than a flat version of a painting. But I’ve learned that that doesn’t always have to be true…

How did they react?

Well, to be honest, the local newspaper completely misunderstood my vision and that made me very sad. The people who went to the exhibition where fascinated but a little confused as well. Haha I couldn’t blame them.
I think most of my early work is complete shit.

What happened after that?

I was actually at a good point of my career. The tattooing went super well and luckily still is. So I could afford a better camera and bought a Canon 5d and started to do some jobs for agencies, brands and fashion magazines. But I didn’t like what I was doing with my photography. Something felt wrong and out of place. Like I was trying to become something that wasn’t me.

So I turned my back on the so called (professional photography) before I even really started. For me, the environment, the people from the agencies and the art directors who always think they know better, we’re getting on my nerves too much. I realised my pictures started to look boring and shallow. So I stopped doing that and decided I would only make pictures of what I personally find interesting and that I would ONLY make them the way I want them to look. Luckily there are still magazines and galleries who are interested in what I do and that value my work as is. By working this way every picture I publish now is highly personal to me.

Well no, I think I just finally find ways to show things the way i want. I always found buildings and other non organic objects very interesting as well, but didn’t have the skill to show them how I wanted to. All in all it’s the same. It’s an interest in the environment we live, in the food we eat, the places we make love in, the places we run through. I think there is a constant exchange between the humans and their environment. You can not tell one story without the other. The places we live are shaping and forming us constantly.

Tokyo is my second home and I love it more than many things in the world. It is my most faithful muse and basic source of inspiration. I could literally go on for hours about how much I love this city. Of course i’m not blind and I see the stuff that is going wrong there as well. I’m not saying it is an utopian place, but the contrast between light and dark (metaphorically speaking) is absolutely breathtaking. I feel this energy everyday when I wake up there. Same for my tattoo work, my paintings and my photography it is important to me to be in Asia. Because in a way I find the most interesting drawing sources and models there. I know that my interest in asian culture comes close to obsession. But try to see it like this: If you are really, really in love with a girl… you want to know everything about her, what she eats, what she ‘s dreaming of, what she likes to wear, what frightens her, what makes her cry, laugh, what kind of music she likes to dance to and how she likes to fuck. But it doesn’t mean you wanna be her. You’re still totally cool with being yourself. For me it’s the same. I will never become a Japanese man and that’s totally ok. I’m cool with being European, but still I wanna learn and respect the Japanese way of living. Because i’m in love with it. If that makes sense?

Can you tell us a little more about the equipment you are currently using?

It depends, when I’m at an indoor location I mostly use a Minolta Dynax 700i. I love that camera because it’s simple and it does what I want. Plus it’s not super expensive so if one falls down I can go and replace it easily.
The outdoor pics are mostly done with a Contax T3. Although I find that camera slightly overrated. So as of recently I am using a Leica Minilux when shooting outdoor. It’s a bit heavier and bigger than the T3. But the lens is phenomenal!

Right now, I’m at the point that I would love to bring out a book soon. Therefor I’m glad we already had a chat about possibilities and I’m looking forward going more in depth on this subject. Thanks for reaching out for this feature and I’m looking forward to future collaborations!  

This all started because of skateboarding, being out on the streets the whole day. Skateboarders have this kind of magnet to attract the most weird encounters. They also travel from place to place into different corners of the city where “normal” people or tourist normally won’t find themselves.

These situations dare to cause the most weird/bizar moments. He always wanted to capture these moments and show them to people what skateboarders come across on a daily basis. With this motivation, he always keeps his disposable camera with him, ready to capture what is going to happen next. Every single day out on the streets is different.