Within the dynamic landscape of Florida's photography community, a 23-year-old visionary, Santiago Traverso, emerges as an artist who skillfully intertwines narratives of solitude and love through his photographic lens. Originally hailing from Lima, Peru, Santiago's journey into photography was an unexpected twist of fate sparked by his venture into clothing design.
The accidental encounter with a camera, wielded initially for product photography, marked the genesis of Santiago's photographic odyssey. Upon relocating to the United States in 2017, he decided to delve deeper into the art form. Drawing inspiration from his profound love for movies and a penchant for solitude, Santiago found his creative sanctuary in the stillness of the night, where he could immerse himself in the art of visual storytelling.
For Santiago, the nocturnal hours become a canvas for crafting evocative portraits that delve into the emotions of loneliness and contemplation, often tinged with the hues of love. Each photograph is a cinematic tableau, a visual narrative that transcends the ordinary and invites viewers into Santiago's introspective world.
Through his lens, Santiago Traverso invites us to explore the interplay of solitude and emotion, capturing the essence of his nocturnal musings and offering a glimpse into the soulful landscapes beneath the Florida night sky. We asked Santiago to pick out some of his favorite shots and tell us about them in this PROFOLIO…
This photo was taken in Tampa, Florida with Rachel, this was my first photoshoot with her and she did an amazing job of conveying the feelings I like in my photos, just with subtle gestures and looks which is not something easy to do. This particular photo was one that was built; meaning we added things with each photo until we were happy with what we had.
This photo was pretty improvised, it's funny to me how sometimes your best work can be just a silly idea you had at the time of the shoot. Diana and I were doing a shoot in front of this ice cream shop. I really like it because of the neon lights it had but since it was a small store I couldn't get too close, it would've bothered the customers. I felt like something was missing and asked Diana if she could cry for this photo. and since she is an amazing model, she gave this perfect tear with the light catching it. Just a beautiful moment captured.
This photo was my lesson to "less is more" . This is a triple exposure. It's a photo I took with Emily on the beach, one of a streetlight and the road. Emily's photo is super simple and when I saw the negative space I intuitively filled it with the two photos. It took me three minutes to create that composition, usually with multiple exposure in post, it takes me hours to get something decent. So every time I tried to rearrange the composition, I kept going back to the first one. With this photo I learned that not everything has to be this three-hour editing process, sometimes simple is the best way to go.
The final photo has a very different feel than what I originally thought I was going to do with it. This was a full portrait of the model, I ended up cropping it down to the final composition. Of all places, this photo was taken in a bar very late at night. The model and I went in there to see if we could get something cool with the atmosphere of the bar. The irony is that, the coolest photo we got there was a close-up of the model smoking. We didn't really need the bar in the first place!
Self-portraits are not easy! I learned that with this photo. since I didn't have anyone to help me with this photo. I end up making this super tall tripod with tables and chairs to hold the light as high as needed. I used an old closet door I had in my garage to simulate the window type shadows. The camera was on this chair on top of another chair because I ran out of tripods. total chaos on a random wednesday at 2am. But I don't regret it at all. Hearing that spark of an idea that comes to you in the middle of the night and making it happen with nothing more than your creativity is an incredible feeling.
Creating with another photographer is always fun, this is a photo I took with my friend Tam, she is an incredible photographer. You learn a lot from someone who does the same thing as you but has a completely different approach than yours. I remember being so happy when we took these photos, it took so long to get everything perfect and lined up to get the final shot.
This photo was a crazy idea that needed people bold enough to do it! It was taken in a beach parking lot in St. Petersburg Florida. Angela and her husband Matty were a huge help in the making of this photo. The smoke machine hooked up to their van, Angela not being able to see or hear anything and posing like that, me yelling at Matt so he could hear me because he was all the way in the back of the car. I knew we had something special as soon as I saw this photo on my camera's little screen.
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