Insta Fav #70: Pilar Franco Borrell

Follow: @piluro

Where are you from? How does that place influence the way you photograph?
I’m a journalist born in Madrid, though I currently live in Barcelona. I came to study a master’s degree in literature but, upon finishing it, decided to stay a little bit longer than expected to start another master, this time in graphic design. Now I work from home as I finish my studies.
It strikes me that Barcelona is an inspiring spot to live in, with a size that helps to maximize the time; at least for me, since I can go everywhere walking or biking whilst retaining all the advantages and possibilities of a big city. Furthermore, it has a superb climate almost throughout the whole year without forgetting it’s surrounded by mountains and sea. I obviously miss loads of things from my home town, specially my family and friends, but for the moment it seems that I’ll stick around here for a while.

What are your favorite environments to shoot in?
Wide opened spaces, full of natural light, especially yellowish fields, in summer, or coast landscapes in winter. I often shoot in empty places, because gazing at uninhabited or temporary abandoned areas inspires me more that contemplating crowded squares, for example. It seems to me that loneliness leads us to wonder, to ask ourselves, to process the moments lived in the past and enjoy our memories.

What are the strengths of shooting primarily mobile? How does this affect your imagery?
Spontaneity and immediacy, I guess. As mobile devices are easier to transport than traditional cameras, they allow you to capture everything, no matter where you are or if you left home prepared for it. They have introduced photography as part as our daily life. I personally felt like I was invading the privacy of others with my camera, even in so little frequented spaces. Or like they were invading mine, as other people can take an interest in what you are shooting and make you feel observed. Since the mobile phones are much more quicker, often for the better but sometimes for the worse, this kind of obstacles have disappeared. In short, and despite all its weaknesses, I’m much more engaged with photography since I started using mobile phones.

Who and what are the things that inspire you?
Idle objects, accordions, my magic family and friends, long conversations with great talkers, dancing in the kitchen, music, poetry, empty cities on summer. The human body, hands in particular. Spending afternoons on the rooftops, kids playing, kids chasing pigeons, the trace of the seasons reflected on the trees, winter seas, old boats, the smell of my mother’s face. I would spend the hole day listing inspiring things, everything counts. Wether watching a film of Ford or returning from a conference of new technologies can change your gaze. We all capture those influences, and it’s amazing how they can also modify our photographies.

Favorite instagrammers?
They are innumerable, and I am frankly bad at making decisions. Check out my ‘following’ list, there are almost 600 igers I really admire there.

Tell us a little about your everyday.
Now that I work at home I have a very flexible schedule, that usually consists of working in the morning in illustration or graphic design projects and studying in the afternoons. Every morning, that’s for sure, I try to go out to have the first coffee of the day in one of the many squares of my neighborhood, then go for a little walk before starting my daily work routine. I try to rest on fridays and saturdays and visit my family once a month.

Which Apps do you use to edit your pictures?
At the beginning, I used to edit with Camera+, but since VSCOcam started, I’m mad about it. Only VSCOcam by the moment.

If you’d like to become a future Insta Fav, follow @ignant. We’ll look into it.