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"  Not all lives in pictures could possibly be as compelling as Giancarlo Giammetti&amp;#039;s. The lifelong friend of Valentino is releasing an autobiographical tome of imagery with Assouline, PRIVATE: Giancarlo Giammetti, which captures all of the glamour along the way\u2014from moments with Jackie O to days on yachts , riding in cars with Garavani and dining with Gwyneth Paltrow. &amp;quot;Not many people know that I have been taking pictures almost all my life,&amp;quot; says Giammetti. &amp;quot;I had amassed more than 50,000 images.&amp;quot; Those images begin with the early days of starting a global brand and continue through the filming of &amp;quot;Valentino: The Last Emperor.&amp;quot; Here, Giammetti explores the capturing of those moments and how an iPhone and Instagram became his next logical tools.  Harper&amp;#039;s BAZAAR: What prompted you to want to compile this book now?  Giancarlo Giammetti: I have been taking pictures all my life. I suppose I shot them initially to record the extraordinary life that Valentino and I had the chance to have. Our work, our friends, our holidays, the amazing moments and the sad ones, all were taken by my very own camera. I had more than 57,000 pictures, all perfectly archived. Somebody suggested a book, I said no, he insisted, and finally convinced me to open my life and my private moments.  HB: What were some of the most surprising images you came across when putting the book together?  GG: I remember every image. It was strange because when I saw each photo I knew exactly who, where, when, so there were no real surprises. But of course there were a lot of memories associated with the images, some great, some less so. HB: What are some of your favorite memories that are captured in the book?  GG: I like the part about my youth, maybe because the pictures were not taken by me, so they feel more fresh. I also like the pictures of holidays, so many dear friends all together, my Tribe, and so much fun,..most of the time. HB: Do you think something has been lost due to everything being so digital now? GG: No, quite the contrary. The world of digital has brought more possibility of sharing memories between friends and sometimes with strangers. Facebook and Instagram could not exist without digital. HB: In the moment did you know how special some of the images were, like the iconic Jackie O photos for instance?  GG: No, they were my friends. I did not feel that I was doing something special, just taking pictures like everybody else. The difference is that my life has given me more possibilities to meet extraordinary people and share moments with them.  HB: What are Valentino&amp;#039;s thoughts on the book? Did he like the walk down memory lane?  GG: As he says in the forward of the book, at the beginning he was annoyed to always be surrounded by thousand photos, but then he realized that thanks to my camera and my persistence we have the opportunity to enjoy the very special pleasure that only memories can provide. HB: The handwritten notes feel so personal, what was the thought behind approaching the storytelling this way?  GG: When I decided to do this book I wanted to make it even more personal, with pages of my diaries and handwritten notes. HB: It&amp;#039;s also so honest and often humorous, like the image and story with Diana Vreeland, why was it important to you to share stories candidly?  GG: It&amp;#039;s one of my favorite pages and it&amp;#039;s so true! The only way to make this book different from so many books with pictures was to make it personal and candid.  HB: Are you still photographing?  GG: Of course. I post quite a lot on Instagram (@privategg). "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/news/a1155/giancarlo-giammetti-releases-photo-collection-book-with-assouline/>