Elisa Iannacone

Where can the human condition be examined more closely than on the front line of conflict or in the aftermath of a traumatic experience? Covering the Rabaa massacre in Cairo, Egypt, and domestic violence in refugee camps in Iraq, cinematographer and Canon Ambassador Elisa Iannacone developed a deeper understanding of trauma; not only what it means for the victims, but also how to present it to the world.

Elisa has now moved away from conflict reporting, but continues to use her skills as a visual artist to explore trauma and social consciousness. As a cinematographer and photographer, she has produced work for National Geographic, Newsweek, Vice and the BBC, and her films have been shown at film festivals across the world. Through her media agency Reframe House, she delivers multimedia projects for companies and individuals that want to make a genuine difference. Elisa is also now a published author, TEDx speaker and guest lecturer, and her approach for connecting with victims of trauma is being developed by two major universities.

Elisa gained invaluable experience as a conflict reporter covering the Rabaa massacre in Egypt in 2013, shooting video content and stills for global news outlets. Though she continued to fulfil this role in Jordan and Iraq after returning from Egypt, it was in Cairo that her understanding of frontline journalism was altered for good. "I got shot at. Some of my friends were shot. I thought to myself, 'Whose war am I fighting and why?' News outlets wouldn't even publish all of my material because of the scale of destruction it showed."

Elisa eventually came to decide that people only have a limited capacity for witnessing devastation and knew she needed to find another way to tell important stories. She shifted her focus to working with survivors of abuse and finding new ways to express trauma through art. Rather than simply pointing her camera at her subjects, she now chooses to get to know the people she works with, and empowers them by involving them in the creative process.

"If someone says to me, 'I felt like I was drowning, or that I was trapped', I ask: 'What does that look like if you could externalise it?' And then begin to sketch what comes to mind."

Elisa's work is deeply intimate. Some of her projects take months to plan and execute, but even in the midst of chaos in conflict zones, she manages to form a deep connection with her subjects. Intimacy and connection define her style whether she's shooting stills or film, but cinematography – be it a documentary, a piece of drama or a commercial – is still where her true passion lies. "Trying to tell a story in a single frame is a fun challenge," she says, "but it's through film that someone truly comes to life."

In order to connect on an intimate level, Elisa relies on wide lenses such as the Canon CN-E24mm T1.5 FP X that enable her to get closer to her subjects. "'I love the idea of being physically close to someone. It takes time but breaks the intimacy line. When you're close, you're right in there with them and with their world, because you can get a sense of their perspective."

Elisa's methods are now being developed into a therapeutic methodology for expressing trauma through art by The Open University in the UK and a university in Ireland. She continues to work with victims of abuse, while supporting herself by leveraging her skills to work with major brands who want to inspire change.

What inspired you to start a career covering war, natural disasters and human rights issues?

"I specialised in international journalism and TV production at university, and then specialised even further into conflict reporting. I believed at that stage of my life that my future was entirely in conflict reporting. And as soon as I graduated, I went to Egypt when the Rabaa massacre happened and then covered Syrian refugee camps in Jordan before going to Iraq."


What keeps you going when tackling these difficult subjects?

"Covering the conflict in Egypt was the most challenging time of my career. My life was at stake, I was working while wearing a gas mask, getting shot at, witnessing human pain every second of the day and operating on adrenaline without any sleep. I was driven by the experience of witnessing so much rawness. I felt like it went much beyond just witnessing. It was learning about the human condition – about what we're like in moments of extreme pressure and how we deal with the stress of extreme loss."


How do you find and tell stories that dig below the surface of a news story or issue?

"A lot of Egyptians don't even know what happened in that conflict – news outlets wouldn't publish a lot of my material because it contained dead people. It made me very angry, then I realised that this wasn't the way I was going to make a change in the world. Compassion fatigue is real and people can't handle so much horror all the time. So I took a u-turn and decided to work with challenging topics, but tried to present them in ways that were different and accessible. That was what led me into working with rape survivors around the world, and the decision to not present it in a photojournalistic black and white way, but to put the power back with the victim and allow them to frame themselves in an empowering way. This enabled people to watch their stories and see what was happening without feeling the same pain we always feel about the horrors of the world."


What drove you to set up Reframe House and what are your ambitions for it?

"Reframing goes beyond taking your camera and pointing it at a subject. It's like reframing life, using a camera. It's a symbiotic relationship, using stills, video or even holographic projections to create a shift in narrative. Reframe House is a business, and we want to use this methodology to present topics that matter, whether that's conflict or green energy, in ways that haven't been done before. We work with businesses and impact investors to make a tangible change in the world, rather than ticking corporate social responsibility boxes. Our method is more empathetic so it can be more easily received by people, making audiences active rather than passive."


What advice would you give to aspiring cinematographers?

"Don't believe in the box that you get put into. If somebody tells you that you can't do drama because you're a journalistic cinematographer, contest it. By putting ourselves into boxes we're losing our opportunity not just to grow technically, but to grow as people. The world is in need of deeper meaning, so for me it's about following your passion and your soul. There is a career path that's never been taken, and you can spearhead it."

"Sometimes capturing subjects in a black and white way re-victimises them and captures a moment of trauma that prevents people from moving forward. Knocking people in the head with images of destruction can actually make them more passive and tends to lead to compassion fatigue. Presenting subjects with a more empathetic approach empowers them to share their stories and makes them easier to be understood by others."

Instagram:@elisaiannacone / @reframehouse

Website:www.elisaiannacone.com / www.reframehouse.com