Matteo Innocenti is one of the most popular wedding photographers in Italy, and he shoots most of his work near home in the towns and countryside of his beloved Tuscany armed with his Fujifilm GFX system.

Growing up, Italian photographer Matteo Innocenti first wanted to be a comic book illustrator.  When he had second thoughts about that career, he bought himself a cheap camera and started thinking about photography. 

With his first camera in hand, Matteo never looked back, and he has no shortage of incredibly beautiful venues on hand for his work as a professional photographer: He was born in Florence, Italy–one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and that city and his favorite sites in the surrounding Tuscan countryside still inform and enrich his art.

Matteo shoots weddings and fine portraits, but you can see in all of his photography the classic chiaroscuro influences of his favorite artist, the Baroque-era painter Caravaggio, who was born in 1571. In 2019, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence opened a new suite of rooms inside the museum focused on Caravaggio and other 17^th Century painters. That show will stay open to the public until at least 2025.

“The work of Caravaggio has informed my own use of light and shadow in my portfolio,” says Matteo. “I love the way that technique causes the subjects to ‘pop out’ from the background. We have some of the most beautiful venues and castles in Tuscany, and I have shot most of them. We might be set up in a Renaissance tower or elegant villa, but the ones I love the best often feature a small dark room with a bright shaft of light streaming in from a small window.”

“Chiaroscuro is something that has always brought me great satisfaction; but can you imagine doing that with a huge viewfinder and with such great dynamic range? It makes things so much easier to me since I am now able to see how the light is falling off in detail, and to correct the pose or the lighting. Creating with my Fujifilm GFX System versus my former gear is like watching a movie on a cinema screen or on a small tv screen; it’s still a movie but the experience is just so different.”

Matteo has a long relationship with Fujifilm, reaching back to his 2014 purchase of a second-hand FUJIFILM X100S. “I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of lenses I then had to choose from when I was first learning, so the X100S, with its fixed lens, really helped me focus on my composition and confidence, and my photography skills improved very quickly as a result.”

Matteo is now using a FUJIFILM GFX50S, along with a FUJINON GF50mmF3.5 R LM WR lens, a set which came to him as a gift in 2020. “That camera changed everything for me,” Matteo says. “The nature of the camera forces you to be more thoughtful and intentional about the framing and the lighting. The camera’s compactness is also amazing and lets me take it into very tight and challenging spaces while still delivering a remarkably high level of image quality.”

Matteo went on to say that the Fujifilm GFX System was a “huge step up” in his photography. “It requires you to be more intentional in your approach,” he said. “I take more time composing shots with my Fujifilm GFX System than previously, and I have found that I now have many more ‘keepers’ while overall, creating many less overall shots. The quality that has come from being more intentional is definitely noticeable and that reflects directly back on the Fujifilm GFX System.”

“The GF50mm lens is amazing and quite compact; the first time I used it I could not believe by the overall quality – I was speechless, really,” he said. As life takes on its new normal as we emerge from the global pandemic, Matteo plans to keep his Fujifilm gear by his side. “I plan to integrate my GFX50S into weddings, mostly for the couples’ portrait sessions,” he said. “I have become addicted to the camera’s quality and handling, and I can’t imagine working without it.” 

To see more of Matteo’s work, visit: mipstudiowedding.com  

Special note: Matteo was included by Rangefinder Magazine among its “Rising Stars in Wedding Photography,” in 2019.

Check out Rangefinder’s 2021 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography here!