“I think a lot of photographers are afraid of capturing Italy in all its beauty. In more recent times, it seems like people are seeking something other than beauty in their images; choosing to shoot them in an unrecognizable field somewhere outside of Milan, or a parking lot in Napoli,” says Gioconda Rafanelli. 

“I can’t work out why. We live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and yet, there seems to be some kind of complex with capturing this beauty,” adds August Kaciuruba, her partner in life and work.  

Of course, this all depends on one’s definition of beauty. For the Milan-based photographic duo Gioconda and August—G&A once you get to know them—“beauty” is a timeless construct steeped in a classical, romantic sensibility. Beauty is reveling in Isola Bella’s manicured gardens wearing your new silk skirt; it’s bathing in Rome’s peachy-golden light from a balcony in Aventino Hill. Beauty is surrendering to those “pinch me” moments that should only exist in the movies, but in fact, are very real (and very frequent) in Italy.

Sure, the pair know it’s a fine line between being swept up in the magic of these locations, and shooting something that looks like a cliché tourist postcard. However, those who see Gioconda and August’s images immediately appreciate the refined artistry behind their lens. They can shoot a model in Milan’s Piazza Duomo and make us look at the location as if we’re seeing it for the first time. In this sense, their work echoes that of photographic legends like Slim Aarons and Juergen Teller, who found (and continue to find) boundless inspiration in Italy as both muse and context for their images. From the “postcard” piazzas heaving with tourists to rustic Etruscan towns en route from Florence to Rome, Italy is the grand protagonist, la grande bellezza. 

Florence-born Gioconda was studying Fashion Design at Polimoda Firenze when she met August 13 years ago. August, though not Italian, was working as an architect in the city at the time, and would photograph daily life in Florence, devouring the city’s architectural banquet from every possible angle. Beauty, for August, is not necessarily the most ornate church or palazzo, but the one you keep returning to, captivated each time by a new discovery. It’s something he instinctively feels the moment he sees it. On meeting Gioconda, for example, he says: “I remember when I met Gioconda, it felt like a miracle. She appeared to me like the woman in the painting,” referring, of course, to Da Vinci’s Renaissance masterpiece of a Florentine silk merchant’s wife named Lisa Gherardini, also known as La Gioconda, also known as the Mona Lisa. 

Sharing this deep sensitivity for beauty inspired by an eclectic mix of historical, cultural, and artistic references (Caravaggio’s Bacchus, Gio Ponti’s first Milanese apartment, bronzed Italian socialites from the ’60s splashing around in the Mar Tirreno…) the pair began spontaneously shooting together. They captured everything from the fashion collections created by Gioconda’s peers at Polimoda to Florentine street style at its finest and the “fairytale” charm of the Tuscan countryside around Fiesole. As they soon discovered, their respective creative backgrounds enriched their photographs with cinematic depth and attention to detail. Gioconda, for example, understood the alluring effect of draping silk on a woman’s body in certain lighting, while August had an effortless flair for capturing the subtleties of Brunelleshi’s Duomo. This harmony between place, person, and detail has earned them first prize in the Vogue Italia / Huawei competition (Vogue Photo Festival, 2016) and Vogue Italia / Martini competition (Vogue Photo Festival, 2017). 

“Every photographer, or artist, is affected by where they live,” says Gioconda, who reflects that the pair’s eventual move from Florence to Milan in 2016 exposed them to new creative circles, ideas, and ways of working. It refined their artistic perspectives and sharpened their “lens”, so to speak, prompting their evolution as fashion photographers. “When we were living in Florence, we had a different vision to what we have now in Milan.”

After nine years of living and working in Italy’s fashion capital, Gioconda and August’s client portfolio now includes the likes of Giorgio Armani, Dolce&Gabbana, Sergio Rossi, Pomellato, Vogue Italia, and Vogue France, to name a few. Milan’s lightning pace, business-minded ethic and cosmopolitan charm have a way of evolving one’s artistic identity, as G&A reflect. Their latest fashion editorials and portraiture projects demonstrate an emotive mix of escapism and conceptual ingenuity, suggesting that the pair has found an ideal balance between a classic, cinematic aesthetic and a contemporary edge. But does Milan satisfy their yearning for that particular kind of timeless, romantic allure that abounds in Tuscany?

 “We appreciate what Milan gives us, the professional opportunities, the connections, and the people. But Milan is not Tuscany,” shares Gioconda. “Tuscany, for us, is the most beautiful place in Italy. It is like an old friend who has nothing to prove. The light is unique, soft, and golden. There is a quiet charm about everyday life, the vineyards… It’s everything we love, in one place. We travel a lot, we love discovering new places, and every trip brings something special. But no matter where we go—no matter how stunning the views or exciting the cities—we always end up saying the same thing: Tuscany is better. There is something about it that just stays with us.”

As for the question about why some photographers are afraid to capture Italy in all its beauty, G&A believe it might be a fear of cliché, that an image will feel predictable or uninspired, or that it won’t add anything new to the conversation. They believe a cliché image might be beautiful, but it doesn’t surprise or challenge the viewer. It risks becoming just another postcard, visually appealing but quickly forgotten.

“We want to create images that give people an opportunity to escape from daily life, even if just for a moment. Slim Aarons, David Bailey…photos by these greats have the power to transport you in an instant, broaden your horizons, and make you think. That is the magic of photography. We love this highly stylized, cinematic, and old-school aesthetic, with a hint of the unexpected. It’s like the timeless Italian dream, right?”