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Heπs just earned himself a special mention from a highly qualified jury in the fashion section at the Creative Quality Awards for Professional Photography, the competition held by TAU Visual, the Italian Association of Professional Photographers. 30-year-old Matteo Cherubino was born in Como but moved to Milan for career reasons, where he was assistant to great names such as Maria Vittoria Backhaus and Gian Paolo Barbieri for several years. Between one shoot and the next, he talked to us about what itπs like to work on a fashion set, in close contact with models who bring varying degrees of difficulty in their portrayal, both for glossy magazines and for independent reviews.

≥As with any profession, itπs not just technical ability that counts: you need to be in the right place at the right time. And perhaps this applies more in fashion than in any other field.≤ Sure, life as a fashion photographer is certainly not one of the easiest, ≥and digital is also to blame here, since itπs created a great deal more competition.≤ So whatπs the secret to getting ahead? ≥Passion is the first thing. I started playing around with a camera as a child. I was fascinated by this device. When I was 14 I used to borrow – we could call it that – my fatherπs reflex cameras. Even back then I wasnπt keen on static images: I would carry out basic experiments in capturing movement on film. Still today movement underpins my exploration of style.≤ Movement and colour, and intriguing exotic moods created by the interplay between light and shade. These are the main ingredients in making a work satisfying and successful – particularly in spiritual terms – even before aesthetics begin to be considered. ≥Working in fashion means being subject to the clientπs wishes and publishing requirements. Despite these restrictions, I always bring something of my own to a photo shoot, something that stands out beyond the clean flat image that I donπt recognise myself in. My true nature emerges in my pursuit of a non-conventional image, but also in creating a concept that stretches beyond the photograph.≤ Evidence of this pursuit is Matteoπs exploration of double exposure, which his work currently focuses on. ≥The photos I submitted for the competition were exclusively superimposed images created with a Polaroid – an alchemistπs camera thanks to its immediate results that may be seen straight after the button has been pressed. Itπs the camera that led me in this direction of investigation.≤ Style exploration recorded and developed with an analogue camera (Polaroid is now closing – editorπs note) backed up by technique and imagination; a journey through the real and surreal facets of photography.