Paolo Guidoni, Opera Singer in El Born

Renaissance Light in a Hidden Space

Some people are just easy to get along with—Paolo Guidoni is one of them. I visited him to create a portrait for an article and used the opportunity to try a painterly lighting style, something quasi-Renaissance. As always, experimentation means some faffing around, but Paolo was gracious, patient, and up for anything.

He’s setting up a new company for opera productions, based in a great space tucked down a quiet street in El Born. From the outside, you’d never guess there’s a stage inside. It has the feel of a secret theatre—exactly the kind of location I love.

Stage-Like Backdrops and Street Opera

The lighting setup was a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster: two lights on a single stand—one with a brolly, the other with a bare bulb and warming gel—and a third to lift the detail from a staircase that looked like a stage set. Naturally, just as I was ready to shoot, the place turned into a thoroughfare.

Still, we got what we needed, and then went for beer and pizza at a local spot he recommended. That dinner turned into a friendship involving parties, long evenings, and the occasional opera performance on the streets of Raval—often to the horror of buttoned-up neighbours.

Oh, and he taught me the secret to pasta sauce: celery. Who knew?