MILAN, Italy — Not so long ago, I had the privilege to meet Guido Taroni in his house-studio in Milan: a stylish loft in an ex industrial area of the city that is becoming more and more the headquarters for the fashion and design businesses.
Guido is a young and already well-known photographer in Italy. His family history probably had partly influenced the course of his career and has set him out from the crowd. He has grown up with a background rich of art, culture and elegance; he is descendant of the celebrated Italian director Luchino Visconti and his uncle is the famous fashion and portrait photographer Giovanni Gastel. Guido probably inherited the ‘eye’ from Giovanni and his qualities related to scenography, the search for detail and the design setting from Luchino.
As a great observer, Guido developed his love for art, colours and shapes even before he started to apply these characteristics into photography. When you listen to him talking about his work you understand how much he loves what he does and certainly, Guido makes the appreciation of his work so charming and interesting.
At only 25 years old, Guido is already a revelation! He has made three exhibitions, photo shoots and covers for important magazines such as Vogue and Elle, portraits and collaborations with well-established fashion brands and designers of famous fashion houses such as Stephan Janson, Lorenzo Riva, Coccinelle, Furla, Malo, Luisa Beccaria, to mention a few.
This talented photographer is very sensitive and instinctive, peculiar characteristics that not only have defined the success of his career but also impersonated the style of his pictures. As Guido comments:
Taking pictures for me is similar to paint, something spontaneous where you have a close relation with colours. When I choose the paper for my photos I always choose a mat one, as it would be a watercolour.
One of the phrases that struck me the most underlines the way in which he puts his heart and soul in his work:
With my photos I want people to feel emotions, I want to pass on a message. You fix an instant that it is always an emotion.
Guido is always looking for the aesthetic value of his subjects, capturing the soul of whoever will pass through his lens. The same way, in the fashion photography, he tries to merge his soul with the models and the theme of the photo shoot; needless to say, he has quite a ‘spiritual’ approach.
“Fashion is a mix of different elements (design, art, culture…) that merge into a style. I would like to create my specific style that can be immediately recognisable, such as Tim Walker, one of my favourite photographers. I like his way of communicating with images.”
Guido’s latest project is for Mantero, a leading company in the creation and production of fabrics, especially silk, for men and womenswear. The famous Italian designer Gentucca Bini created a collection of scarves for the historical company. The project is called Gentucca plays Mantero and the company asked Guido to illustrate this collection with his talent and creativity. He decided to take pictures of Mantero’s staff with the features of these beautiful scarves complimenting those of his ‘models’. Guidos’ work will be available online from 1 December.
One of the most fascinating things about photography is delivering a message that each one can interpret and make personal. Images sometimes can tell much more than just words. This is certainly the case in the wonderful work of Guido Taroni.
