Luna Rossa: a conversation with Carlo Borlenghi, official team photographer
Telling the story of Luna Rossa from its first America’s Cup campaign to the one that just closed in Barcelona, without writing a single word, is actually possible: all you need to do is assemble the countless photos shot by Carlo Borlenghi over these long 24 years to create a chronicle of the team that speaks more than a thousand words.
As official photographer of Luna Rossa since 2000, Carlo has captured the six America’s Cup campaigns and their characters with impactful images that have greatly contributed to the team's fame and turned it into an international sailing icon.
Since his beginnings in Bellano where he would shoot his friends racing on Lake Como, Borlenghi has reached the pinnacle of yachting photography, earning a place of honor alongside great masters like the legendary Beken of Cowes, who greatly inspired him. «At the beginning I tried to copy them» he says, «but my photos always looked bad in comparison. I kept asking myself: where am I going wrong, what is the difference? Then I realized that we were photographing two different eras, and that I had to do the opposite of what they did because I was from a different generation. I had to find a way to make sailing come alive and look modern. So, I equipped myself with telephoto lenses and entered into the action, portraying this sport with sea spray, or a sail flying off, or someone hard at work… and I changed; I revolutionized the way of photographing compared to the previous generation».
Winner of numerous international awards, after 30 years in the field Carlo never stopped self-innovating, surprising himself, and exploring. And it is this enthusiasm that makes his work powerful, fresh, in original photos that play with light, framing, and emotions to capture something always different and never trivial. «The most difficult thing about this job», he explains, «is inventing a new photo every year. I spend the winter looking back at those from the previous season. I used to print and cut them out with scissors, now the computer makes it much easier and helps me memorize a new perspective. The problem is that even if I know exactly what I want, the ideal situation doesn’t always present itself during the regattas. You’re not in a studio where you turn on the lights and take the photos. The weather is what it is, and you have to accept what it gives».
His connection with the America’s Cup goes back to 1983 - long before Luna Rossa came along - with the challenge of Azzurra, the first Italian yacht to challenge for the America’s Cup. «I didn’t know what the America’s Cup was; in Italy, no one did», he recalls. «One year, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo organized this challenge for the America’s Cup, and when I returned to Sardinia with Azzurra’s plane, Porto Cervo’s airport was incredible. In sailing we aren’t used to the same fan support as football, and seeing all those people waiting for us seemed unreal, as if Maradona and Messi had arrived together. And yet, it was a sailing team that had participated in a regatta they didn’t even win. But the trick is to always keep your feet on the ground. Because when all this ends, you need to know how to move forward. I’ve always been very modest. I grew up on the lake and my philosophy is: if there’s work, great, if not, I’ll go fishing. That’s how we see it. You don’t need that much more, right?».
After so many years alongside the Italian team, Carlo Borlenghi is truly part of the Luna Rossa family, with whom he shares joys and disappointments. «I have a personality that allows me to connect easily with people in all departments. When you cover the whole event it’s wonderful because you live with them for so many months, and you feel like family. I stay a little detached emotionally, though, because you can’t get emotional or sad when taking photos. So, when they shout or cry because the boat lost or won, you must stay neutral: you shoot and that’s it. Later, when I look at the photos again, I sometimes get emotional, but in that moment I can’t».
Always cheerful, a lover of good food, fast cars and boats - which he chases from a rib or leaning out of a helicopter hatch for the perfect shot - Carlo rarely stays home, spending just one or two months a year there. «During regattas the days are full and I spend many hours on the water even in bad weather, so by the end you feel the exhaustion. When I get home I spend two days at the lake to rest and reconnect with life without seeing anyone because I’ve been around so many people for so long. By the third day however, I admit, I start getting restless and can’t wait for the next event to start and to get going again».
