Rocco Basile, the founder of Rocco Basile Photography, is a renowned photography expert whose work as a photojournalist has taken him to some of the world’s most remote locales. Rocco, a native New Yorker who relocated to Southern California following a lengthy stay in the Far East, enjoys that his profession has enabled him to travel so often but equally appreciates the stability he has experienced since founding the eponymous photography gallery and studio located so close to his home in Santa Barbara, California.

In addition to his work as a photojournalist, Rocco has also earned international notoriety for his fine art photography as well as his landscape and portrait photography. Rocco’s photographs have been featured in publications with readerships that span the globe, and the longtime photography expert is proud that his career has been successful enough that he is now able to support the careers of other up-and-coming photographers in the area. In fact, the walls of Rocco’s studio and gallery typically feature the work of other visual artists in need of the kind of initial exposure that helps a career suddenly take off.

As a youth growing up in and around New York City, Rocco benefited from the unwavering support of friends and family, who all worked hard to ensure he always had a spare roll of film for his camera and enough subway tokens to take him wherever in the city he wished to go. This early support helped Rocco secure the scholarships and grants that allowed him to attend Emerson College and the California Institute of the Arts. Recognizing how his own career has been so thoroughly influenced by the support of others, Rocco now dedicates a great deal of his time and energy to providing a similar level of support to anyone hoping to enjoy a successful career in photography.

1. What is your favorite thing about traveling?

Every place I visit has its own unique energy and palette of colors interacting with and affecting everyone and everything in the most fascinating way. I always look forward to uncovering the nature of that interaction and finding ways to document it with my camera.

2. Is traveling a hobby or a lifestyle for you? How did you get started?

It’s a lifestyle that started when I accepted my first assignment as a photojournalist.

3. What is the most beautiful place you’ve been to?

Okinawa is the most beautiful place I’ve had the pleasure of visiting.

4. Do you have any exciting travel dates planned for the future?

I’ve been offered a few interesting assignments, but lately I’ve tried to focus on my work at my studio. I’m sure I’ll be jetting off to some far-flung place sooner or later.

5. What are some travel tips you’d give to someone inexperienced?

Photography is a passion of mine, but I’m always careful to make sure my camera doesn’t become a barrier between myself and others. It’s important to be mindful of each specific moment and place, especially while traveling.

6. Where would you like to go?

I’d like to pack up a motorcycle and travel south down the Pacific Coastline until I reach Chile’s southernmost point. Somewhere along the way I’d have to hop on a few boats to check out the Falkland Islands and the Galapagos Islands.

7. Where would you like to revisit?

Okinawa and Tibet were magnificent in every possible way.

8. Do you travel alone? Why?

It depends on the assignment. Sometimes I travel with several others and sometimes it’s just my camera and I.

9. If you could pick the top 3 places every person should go, what would they be?

Japan, Chile, and Bali

10. Do you travel light or do you pack up the house?

Other than my photography equipment, I try to bring as little as possible wherever I happen to go.