Before embarking on a career in Advertising photography Torcello studied painting, sculpture and photography at the best Fine Art College in Australia. There, under the tutoring of David Wilson, Athol Shmith, John Cato and Paul Cox amongst others, he learnt the craft of how light shapes form, and though upon completion Torcello choses a commercial path, Torcello was forever inspired by the work of Irving Penn, Arnold Newman and the great still life and portrait photographers of the past.
What drives Torcello as a photographer is the previsualisation, composition and the quality of light that he desires. Torcello’s influences weren’t restricted to great photographers they included Rembrandt, Caravaggio and the Great Masters of painting and the way they positioned their subjects in moodily lit studios or candlelit environments in order to convey mystery: soft light and chiaroscuro.
Before the advent of digital photography the majority of his commercial work was shot on medium to large format film which required considerable flash power in order to achieve the depth of field required in a single exposure. But now with high resolution DSLRs we are able to use smaller, portable, battery-powered flash units such as the Profoto B1 and A1, which allows us to shoot on location without the use of petrol-driven generators or lighting trucks.
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