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

Hi William, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

As a photographer, I initially worked for some time in photography studios where they obviously had in-house production teams that organised the various photo shoots.

However, those who manage the organisation don’t always fully understand the ins and outs of a shoot, the dynamics, and the potential problems to solve.

And since I’ve always enjoyed organising and being completely immersed in a project, I began to take what I’d learned when I was working as a retailer, and everything I’d assimilated in other jobs as an activity leader. I then began to organize photo shoot entirely on my own, creating the concept for the client and following it from start to finish, jointly managing the production.

It seems complicated because it adds multiple roles and commitments to a single individual, but if done with the right timing and the right organization, the work flows smoothly.

Especially because I love creating the creative concept, I love proposing it to the client and showing them the final results; everything else is up to the team. Budgeting in agreement with the client and choosing the right team to follow you through the creation.

William, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born as a creative soul with a deep love for the limelight and fashion, but I didn’t know anything about it.
Initially, I pursued the dream of being a stylist, then moved on to study fashion design and textiles.

And consistent with my early maturity, what I called fashion was just a way to play; it wasn’t taken seriously.
However, feeling a strong connection within, I tried to find the right language to express my thoughts in this industry, and I fell in love with the camera.
I never took photography as a hobby; I was never interested in it, not even like typical tourists do when they go on vacation. And I still do, but I learned to love it, I wanted it, and I tried to love and connect this medium with my passion for fashion.

Now, after many years of work, I describe myself as a photographer-director because in these 15 years of experience, I have learned and can execute, from the photographic side, and deliver to the client projects such as advertising campaigns, editorials, and covers for magazines, e-commerce, and all the digital platforms that use photography to sell a product. My knowledge of light and constant experimentation has also led me to evolve my photography in interior design, from documentary portraits to more conceptual work. Although not directly featured on my website (mainly fashion and beauty work), it still satisfies me and contributes to my professional income.

Why director… because I love being involved in both artistic and production direction.
Often, the concept comes from me because I directly create a mood board for a specific project, and I oversee the production and suggest the right team.

It’s not always possible; it depends on who commissions the work and whether they need that service or not.
I always try to blend my ideas with those of the client so that my language is visible. And I don’t limit myself to just clicking.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There’s an episode that happened right at the beginning of my career, the very first steps. I was not even an assistant; I was just starting, and I was trying to figure out how to take the tests for models.

They told me that to get into the fashion world, you had to take photos with models for free, so I tried knocking on every agency in Milan, or almost all of them, posting ads, and I was stopping girls on the street who I thought were models.
Once, I even went to Abercrombie, which I knew used models to work in the store, and I waited outside to get a contact or leave my number.
Nothing… darkness. No one answered, nobody, not even the agencies that I honestly know I will never think to use. lol

And so I didn’t know what to do; it seemed already impossible to succeed. So I tried to shoot the real people, using some girls that I thought were nice enough to give me some decent photos to use as a fashion portfolio, but it was already a big word, call it a fashion book.. lol again.

And after a few months, thinking I had some decent images, I continued knocking on a thousand doors to find a model who was at least from an agency, still zero results…

A morning, still in Milan, and I was drinking a coffee, leafing through my portfolio with great regret.
A woman who was nearby with the coffee asked me what I was doing and if I took those images, and I said, “Supposedly, I’m trying to find models, but no one wants me. How can I improve and take a step in the fashion industry if no one gives me an opportunity? I am not asking for Kate Moss, but just for a new face model, with no experience, and so we can test together… it really seems the fashion industry is a cruel industry… I didn’t even start, and I am already exhausted and full of doubts.”

She laughed, and she said, “I represent an agency, but we have boys…”
I was dreaming, but initially I said: Are you Sure ? I do not know if I am good, I have zero result until now.
She laughed again… come tomorrow in my office and we talk.

Wopw finally an agency… the next day I went to meet her, and when I was walking to the agency I was thinking maybe it’s the same agency that will tell me stories and stories, and then I will have nothing on my plate again… wow, it was a fantastic agency, very professional with amazing known models.

She asked me to photograph four models who had just signed with the agency, very new faces.
She didn’t like the first three tests, but the last one went much better. I shot another, even better, and another was also used as the main cover for the model book.
She liked me. Then she passed me the contact information of a friend who was running a modeling agency for women… And then the rest began to fall into place.

I often think about the long, long months and the rush it took just to get a new-face model to do free tests, but it’s a thought that makes me smile and makes me keep going and keep pushing.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

But sometimes I always make final decisions a little late. I always recover very quickly and manage to catch up with others, even surpassing those who sometimes started before me. However, perhaps if I could go back, I would have started studying photography much earlier. Obviously, the immaturity and confusion of knowing what to do slowed things down.

Now that I feel well-trained in terms of photography and production, analyzing goals and budgets, I could have developed another language alongside photography, the video. What I personally lack is a service I provide to a client, but not directly, thanks to the teams that support me.

It’s definitely a role I want to enhance my professional profile, especially now that video and AI can also be involved.
And I see all of these (photo, video, AI) as tools that can coexist well together, and existing in the same type of business, they become fundamental for a person’s professional profile.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.williamferchichi.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamferchichi/