**Gabriella Campomizzi: The Photographer of Sathya Sai Baba**

This text is an interview with Gabriella Campomizzi, a professional photographer from Cesenatico, Italy, who became the official photographer for Sathya Sai Baba. She shares her journey of how "destiny" led her to India and how her relationship with Baba transformed her life and her art.

**1. Photography Lessons and "Secret" Shooting**

In the beginning, Gabriella photographed Sai Baba **clandestinely** because there was a strict ban on photography. she developed elaborate strategies, hiding her camera under her clothes and alternating between long-focus lenses for close-ups and wide-angle lenses for panoramic shots of the ashram.

However, Sai Baba was fully aware of her actions. One day, he called her and said, "Enough with the photography. Put the camera away and be in silence. **You must understand what you are photographing.** This is not a scoop; you must realize and interiorize it". Gabriella cried for three days before realizing the depth of this lesson: one should not photograph a subject without understanding its essence.

**2. Official Recognition and the "Bon-ton" Lesson**

Years later, Baba himself invited her to take his photograph. When she asked for permission to photograph his hands and feet, he stood up and said, "Here are my feet, here are my hands; go get your equipment". Overjoyed, Gabriella ran to her room, lifting her sari to move faster. When she returned, Baba gave her a lesson in **modesty and responsibility (bon-ton)**, telling her that "a true lady does not behave like that" and that she must be discreet about how her behavior affects others.

Ultimately, he declared her his **official photographer**, allowing her to shoot at his residences in Kodaikanal and Whitefield.

**3. The Omniscience of Sai Baba**

Gabriella was stunned by how much detail Sai Baba knew about her private life in Italy:

* During an interview, he described the **exact layout of her house**.
* He spoke about her **arguments with her husband in the kitchen** and how she would retreat to her room when angry, despite never having visited her home.
* Before she returned home, he calmed her fears regarding her family's reaction to her trip, saying, "You are now inside my heart". Upon her return, she was greeted with a "triumphal entry" instead of anger.

**4. The Miracle of the Japamala (Prayer Beads)**

While Gabriella was going through a painful radical transformation and divorce, Sai Baba materialized a **japamala** (a string of 108 beads) for her protection. As she changed internally, the beads began to break constantly, symbolizing the "burning away" of stages of her past. When she finally asked Baba to replace them, he initially said they were still good. However, the moment she stepped out of the interview room, the beads completely disintegrated on the ground—signifying that a cycle of her life had ended.

**5. The "Birthday Pact"**

Gabriella once complained to Baba that his birthday in November was too chaotic and crowded, and she didn't want to attend anymore. Baba proposed a deal: "If you come to my birthday, I will come to yours". Consequently, for the next **10 years**, Gabriella traveled to India twice a year: once in November for his celebration, and again in April (her birth month), when Baba would invariably be at his summer residence in Kodaikanal, effectively celebrating the day with her.

**6. DNA Change and Healing Images**

Gabriella claims that her experiences with Baba changed her at a **"DNA level"**. She learned to understand "subtle worlds" and spiritual realities without ever having read about them in books. Her work as a photographer evolved into a spiritual practice:

* She stopped looking with her "physical eye" and began looking through the **"eye of the heart"**.
* She seeks to capture the essence and inner beauty of every individual, even the most difficult ones, creating what she calls **"healing images"**. Her goal is to show people their own magnificence through her photography to inspire their own inner work

India 6 - Gabriella Campomizzi la fotografa di Sathya Sai Baba