Lorenzo Sala Bronze Winner

Lorenzo Sala took the Bronze award in the Series category with these images, part of the studies for a new series that he will exhibit next year in Milan.

"For a long time I shot only single people or couples," Lorenzo says. "After a while I got tired of observing the usual shapes and compositions, so I tried to put together more people. Anyone is allowed to come and pose, so I never know who to expect. This is both fun and thrilling for me, I never know what will be the psychological and physical limits of the subjects. For this reason I never study in advance the compositions; I just create with what I have, it's like playing with clay.

"The main idea with this series was to create a face using bodies, but soon enough I understood that four bodies were not enough so I started mixing them up, while keeping the situation easy and fun. The two girls didn't know each other while the boys were friends. It was a funny day and I think this can be see from the images."

As photography is his secondary income, Lorenzo chooses to only shoot art nudes. "It is nice that I can choose to only shoot the works I want to do," he says. "I started selling my works in Milan: I walked in the Miniaci Modern Art Gallery in Milan to ask for some space exhibitions for a painter friend. The owner didn't like my friend's work but asked me who I was and what I did. I showed my works on the iPad and he said I could sell some of them if I managed to turn them into paintings. Two months later, four of my photos (printed on canvas and painted with acrylics) on sale in the Brera area of Milan"

From there, Lorenzo started exhibiting and selling in collective exhibitions in Los Angeles, Milan and Piran (Slovenia). His first personal exhibition will be in April, during the "Salone del mobile" fair next to Milan's Duomo, in Vittorio Emanuele's gallery.

"Thanks to my IT background, I find it easy to use internet to share images and connect with groups of collectors, critics and galleries," Lorenzo explains. "I know this could be a problem to old school photographers. But the internet has made it easier for me to spread my works all around the world and have more chances than I would have had 20 years ago.

My advice to new photographers would be don't think that something is impossible! I wasn't able to hold a camera 3 years ago. Try and enjoy every time you shoot! The camera is just an extensions of yourself, it's not a limit. Use it to explore what your imagination is trying to express. And don't worry if your first photos aren't much good. When I began, I used to do 800 shots to get 10 good images. Now I shoot 30 and I keep 27/28. Remember to try and exhibit your work in galleries. At worst you'll get a no, but if you'll never try you'll never know, one day you could get a yes..."

Lorenzo remembers a favourite commission from last year. "A friend of my wife asked me if I could go to Florence and live with her family and three of her friends for two days. The idea was that being in contact with them I could better understand who they really were and freeze their emotions in some photos. They are a group of ladies that opened a shop in the centre of Florence with the aim of aiding people with physical and social problems. The shoot was so interesting for me, so different from what I'm used to. I didn't have my lights, my studio, my usual backgrounds. Instead, I had different environments and the natural emotions of these four ladies. It was such an experience!"

In the pipeline for Lorenzo is the launch of his website, the main channel of sales to the collectors. He has a couple of collective exhibitions in Milan and a personal exhibition during Salone del mobile fair in April 2012. His aim is to enter the art market as an accredited artist and to have exhibitions outside Italy. Lorenzo intends to always do charity sales. "They are good for everyone," he says. "It's a solution where everyone wins."