We were lucky to catch up with Mariano De Luca recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mariano , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I was always surrounded by Still Photography cameras, my dad used to shoot stills as a hobby, but in reality my first contact with the arts was thru Music and playing an instrument. I found a guitar in my grand mother’s house when I was 12 years old, seems like there was always a guitar around back in the days. So, I went running to my dad asking to get some new strings because I wanted to start playing guitar. He got me a new set of strings and taught me a simple song. After that I couldn’t get away from it and I kept playing to the day. But I guess the idea of making a career out of it was kind of an accident. I was turning 17 and needed to realize what did I want to do, what career to choose, I was a little confused, because music was my life, but the reality of being a musician wasn’t there for me. So somehow, I got into Film School, thinking that I might be able to create music for films, and write scores. That idea lasted one week… On my first Cinematography class, our teacher gave us a whole hour explaining how a camera works and that started to get my attention. On the second hour he took us to the lab, and started explaining the process of developing film. It was there when my life took a turn. Watching how an image is developed and the magic behind the chemical process of image making was absolutely astonishing for me. 20 plus years later, I love my work as a Director of Photography and how much I enjoy being part of such creative process.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina to an Italian descent family mixed with Spanish roots. That means, Family is important! but at the same time, the arts weren’t flowing in the family, so when I said I wanted to go to Film School, everyone gave me a weird look. Getting into the Film Industry wasn’t easy. After film school I got the chance to get my first job, and it was thru one of my teachers from Film School, but that was my only job for a whole year. After that it was all about networking and keep calling people. I can say that getting to the point I’m today was a long road, I started my Film Industry career as an Electrician in the G&E department, and then I started to go up in the ladder. It took me around 12 years to get to be a Director of Photography and been doing that for the last 9 years. I think of myself like being a Director of Photography, also called Cinematographer, is being a Visual Storyteller. I have the creative task of develop the visual approach to any Film/Visual Content and execute it on time and budget. I manage my crew and I oversee the workflow for the acquisition of the footage during the shoot. I’ve work for brands like: Toyota, Spotify, Reebok, Microsoft, Google, Vice, ATTN:, Buzzfeed and got five ‘Best Cinematography” Awards for two narrative projects that I shot in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. I participated in projects streaming in Netflix and Tubi, and one of my last Documentary projects won five TELLY Awards and a Regional EMMY from the Television academy.
I’m really proud of being part of projects that present content that will help people overcome certain circumstances and also ignite new discussions on how to tackle our every day problems.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There is no way I can envision my life without being an artist or creative. For me the whole creative process is so much fun. It involves a lot of things, because it’s not only creating or being “creative”, it’s a lot of preparation work, research, talking, reading. Once you start a project, it involves working with other artists too and there is a beautiful moment of team collaboration.
Besides all the fun I have doing what I do as an Artist, I think the most rewarding aspect is to be part of a project that might help someone overcome anything that is happening in their life at that moment. I’m a truly believer art can cure and can heal. For me Art is a place to get away from everything around, any form of art can help you in any moment of your life, and having the possibility to be the one creating that piece of art that could eventually help or entertain someone at least for a a little bit, is something I feel absolutely rewarding.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I feel that any Director of Photography, should be reading “American Cinematographer Magazine”. The ASC Mag is a great source of learning and it’s been a big help to me since I started reading it 20 years ago. The ASC also offers a MASTER CLASS, which I’ve been part of, and it’s absolutely phenomenal. I believe there is a huge impact on learning from real, working Cinematographers of the caliber of those at the ASC. I was also awarded with their Mentorship program, where I met my Mentor and I feel that was the biggest improvement in my career.
Another really important thing in my career development was taking care of my mental health, I believe having a strong mind will help you go through during difficult times. Learning about the Growth Mindset and Meditation, really made an impact on my life and career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marianodelucadp.com
• Instagram: @marianodelucadp

Image Credits

Jeffrey Gary, Ryan Schultz, Stephanie Tobey, Diana Savone, Ryan Thomas