We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Paolo Ciccone. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Paolo below.

Paolo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Everybody deserves and needs to have great portraits of themselves. We live a short time on this planet and then we die. What do we leave behind that people can see and they can use to connect to our life?

Some of the most treasured items are our family portraits. When a natural disaster strikes, what people rush to save are their family portraits.

But to be experienced as it should, a portrait has to be tangible. There is nothing like the experience of seeing a real surface where the image is printed on fine art paper or canvas. The way the eye wanders, and how the light might highlight a little detail, all those elements create a completely unique experience. Size matters too. A 20×30 portrait makes a different impression than a 30×40 and no screen ever comes even marginally close to that experience.

I have spent years refining my art and studying the portrait masters of the past and today I create portraits in the style of classic 1930s Hollywood for everyday people.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My mission is to give families a sophisticated, timeless portrait to treasure for all years to come. Portraits tell our stories with visual poetry and give future generations the link with their history and ancestry.

Especially for women, I want to exalt and celebrate them as the powerful, and beautiful forces that they are with a portrait that harkens to the world of the Golden Era of Hollywood. Luscious black and white etched on real film, not digital, and then painted by hand in the similar way that the Hollywood portrait masters were doing in the 1930s and 40s.

In a world that seems to move at an ever-accelerating pace, where digital images are taken and forgotten in an instant, there exists a profound longing for something deeper, something that transcends fleeting trends.

Through the artistry of film, the enchantment of black and white imagery, and an unwavering commitment to capture the soul of the subject, I invite every client to embrace the extraordinary experience that will leave an indelible mark on their soul and create a legacy to be cherished forever.

Using the cinematic lighting of classic Hollywood your image is formed by a delicate dance of light and shadows, while the silver in the film gives a sense of tridimensionality that is unique to this medium. Within each life-sized print, lovingly handcrafted on exquisite fine art paper, your story is etched, your essence immortalized.

I have been called “the motivational photographer” because I do everything possible to make the session fun and uplifting. I want you to have a great time at the studio, which will translate into a great image on the portrait.

Having a great experience resulting in beautiful portraits is what people can expect when they call me.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Talking to people in person. We live in a world that is discouraging human interaction all the time. Stores where there are no cashiers. Restaurants where everything is served by machines and so on.

Meeting people in person, not Zoom, face-to-face is what creates real connections. There is simply no substitute.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

Let me just say first that I worked as a software engineer for more than 25 years, so my background in technology runs deep. At the same time, I’m an artist and the more I work in art the more I am convinced that there is nothing like a tangible piece of art. The experience that you get from standing in front of the work of Tiziano, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, or Vermeer cannot be reproduced by anything digital.

When you go see a movie, seeing a real piece of film projected by a brilliant halogen lamp on a reflective screen is unique.

Art is best experienced in person in tangible form. Everything else is less.     

Contact Info:

• Website: https://paoloportraits.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paolocicconeportraits/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paolociccone/

Image Credits
All images copyright 2022, 2023 Paolo Ciccone