Stefano Santucci is based in Florence, Italy and travels worldwide to capture weddings. With a passion for film photography he offers an exclusive service to his clients by developing and printing all images himself and personally overseeing every piece of work his studio sends out. Stefano Santucci prides himself in offering a personalised service to his couples and looks for authentic and natural moments in all the events he captures.
Tell us about your business!
My name is Stefano Santucci. I was born in 1983 in Cremona, a small and foggy town in the north of Italy famous for violins. In 2002, I moved to Florence, in the centre of the Tuscan hills to study Psychology at the University of Florence, studies that focused on non verbal behavior/facial expressions in children.
Photography at that time was therapy, and I was used to having very long walks alone thinking and putting in a line my thoughts with a camera.
I became a full-time film and digital photographer in 2010 renouncing my psychology career. My style is documentary with a touch of editorial. I believe every shot needs to tell a piece of the story. I'm inspired by stories, by the exceptions, and by those who can see things differently. I believe in the blend of curiosity, creativity, and nostalgia. I adore style and elegance. Especially vintage. I do not describe myself as a traditional person or photographer, I like to be a minority. I'm proud to be a minority. My Studio is small by design, I also own a small film development and print lab that I'm very proud of and I personally oversee every piece of work the studio sends out into the world. I still use photography as a personal therapy and you can find some of my documentary projects around.
What would you like couples to know about you/your business?
I’m a documentary film and digital photographer and I look for truth and honest couples with a story to tell. I love minorities, and I identify myself with them. What I like are meaningful silences, things that last and giving weight to the words, chosing them carefully. What I don't like are definitions, tagging a religion, the way people eat, and the color of their skin. My business is built around me, around my preferences, my aesthetic, my tastes, my sensibility. I often start a business relationship as a professional and end it as a friend. Photography for me is a privilege since art must be a mission.
Where are you based?
Florence Italy.
Do you travel for weddings?
Yes I do, so far I’ve been in Greece, Morocco, France, Thailand, Australia and I’m always available to travel for my couples.
How would you describe your style?
My style is simple, every shot must tell a story. My approach is documentary with a touch of editorial. I love elegance and simplicity. My work is about telling authentic stories and capturing the excitement, the surprising moments, the moments unplanned, and the moments that perhaps they do not even remember. I look to giving to my couples photos to make them smile. And cry, whilst producing every emotion in between.
What is your most memorable career moment?
Every time someone recognize me and truly see me with a deeper connection.
What inspires you?
Love. I often hear incredible love stories. They are timeless, and they span the centuries. Think back to the master works of the great Renaissance painters. Their subject? Love. Always love. What distinguishes the good from the great? I believe it comes down to one thing and one thing alone: the uniqueness of the sensibility and the willingness and commitment to treat each couple – and each story – as something completely different, extraordinary, and, well, unique. I bring this to my work. I bring this deeply personal way to the stories I tell about love.
What motivates you to do what you do?
Books, artists from other businesses, stories, the design of old objects.. A trace of my past to leave..
Photography is a difficult yet very simple discipline. You have to listen to yourself, make silence within yourself and get to know you better every day. I believe that only by accepting the world and making an effort to see the beauty in every corner you can truly be able to open ourselves to the infinity of light, or to the light of infinity.
How would you describe your working style?
Natural. Empathetic. Not traditional. Constantly evolving.
Do you shoot digitally, on film or both?
I shoot film and digital. In my studio I have a small lab, I develop and print images from film and digitally by myself. Photography is a vast area with many many words inside. I tried to learn every day something new.
Do you have custom packages according to individual needs?
I offer a day coverage with 1 or 2 days and customizations.
What is a favourite product or service that you offer and why?
Film and prints from film. They are unique and timeless. Develop and printing images in my film lab in also an exclusive experience.
Where would you love to travel to for work?
Japan. I’ve been there for a vacation and I fell in love.
Who is your dream client?
Someone with a gentle delicacy, with style, elegance, curiosity, shyness. Someone who has suffered and managed to see beyond the surface.
What is your advice to couples getting married?
Do not consider the wedding a bride only thing, please make the event around the groom too and let him actively participate and carefully choose his/your vendors. He might be pleasantly surprised to see that those old clichés no longer exist.
