The Soul Comes Out: Mattia by Andrea Romano

The first shot of Mattia I saw was the image at the top of the page I used for pic of the day. I knew instantly I wanted find out who the artist was behind it and share on FH. Fun, sexy, creative with a ton of personality. The shots of Mattia in the white socks have joined my list of favorite images.

I have not had the best luck contacting artists via flickr, but photographer Andrea Romano responded the next day and once Mattia was on board the only task left was to narrow down my favorite shots.

'I've never studied photography, I'm only a beginner, an amateur and I know I've got lots of things to learn. I love to shoot people, I love portraits, and I love to use lights and shadows to show them.'
Andrea Romano

From Andrea's extensive portfolio on flickr, I would have guessed he had been shooting for years. Andrea says Mattia was actually one of his first shoots. Andrea knew Mattia through a mutual friend and always liked his look. When he asked him about shooting Mattia said 'why not?'. Andrea has shot Mattia twice now and some of the more humorous shots came from the second shoot. Mattia was free and comfortable in front of the camera and Andreas hopes to shoot him again soon with his current concentration on shadow and light.

Born in 1976, on Christmas Day in Lecce, a city in southern Italy, Andrea says that although he only picked up a camera to shoot about two years ago, he was always attracted to photography. The artist prefers shooting in black and white and likes to find 'normal' looking guys to shoot. He says often, the first time he sees a model face to face, is the day they shoot so it is important to find ways to bring personality out.

'I never ack a model to smile. I think it's a forced thing and I don't like it. So, the smile you can see in some rare shoots of mine, are extemporary and true.'

I like to shoot men naked or half/naked as I think that in this way, the soul comes out. A naked person can show his fragility, his force, his fear... I try to capture their soul with a shoot, in a movement, a look... I most interested with their soul through their nudity rather than only the nudity itself.