Sebastian Buzzalino

In January 2018 Daniel Romano’s Ancient Shapes embarked on their first Canadian national tour. 13 stops between Vancouver and Montreal, 13 brief, passionate blasts of sound within the frozen moment of the winter, the moment that extends for thousands of kilometres and crosses mountains, prairies, rivers, and all sorts of soiled and stolen lands. The sound made by 5 comrades, wrestled into shape by another at the front of the house, and captured by another in raw black and write images.

Photographer Sebastian Buzzalino has compiled the best of his photographs from the tour into a beautiful 120 page 6×9” format book, containing 147 images from the stage, the van, the beds, the hotels, the freezing cold road stops, and the results of drinking too many Labatt 50s. 

“I’ve had the privilege of working with Dan on a couple of tours, but this was the first time documenting Ancient Shapes” he says. “Huddled in a busted van full of speed holes as we raced across Canada at the height of winter, I captured a more frenetic, urgent side of his music. Between the close quarters, the packed venues and our scrappy camaraderie, these represent some of my most visceral and intimate photos to date.”

The photograph is a collaboration between photographer and subject; let the subject speak: “Sebastian Buzzalino is an invisible summer. When behind the camera, he is disguised and blends into even the most vivid scenery. This ability is what makes him able to capture the raw, living, bleeding imagery that he does. Never have I met someone with such a quick response and attention to a subject. Above all this, when the camera comes down, his beautiful smile appears.” – Daniel Romano