Michele Monasta Photography

Michele Monasta has worked as a photographer in Florence for more than thirty years, over twenty-five of them in stage photography for theatre and cinema. Since 2019 he has been the official photographer of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence's opera house. He brings the same habit of watching to weddings, which he sees as a run of emotions that happen once, here and now, much as they do on a stage.

He describes his wedding work as editorial reportage: natural and elegant, without forced poses, made with discretion. His galleries move between black and white and warm colour, from quiet moments in the getting-ready rooms to crowded church steps and late, loud dance floors. Among his influences he names Caravaggio's light and shadow and photographers such as Elliott Erwitt, Lindbergh and Avedon.

“Photography, for me, means discreetly observing what really happens. Transforming a fragile moment into something that can remain over time. Where the scene and life meet, and the image becomes story and memory.”

Michele Monasta

He follows the whole day, from preparations and the ceremony through dinner and the party, and stays for long celebrations: one Maremma wedding at Borgo Carige ran over two days, and he writes that the family made him feel free to observe without barriers. For couples who want it, he also photographs a walk before the wedding. One American couple marrying at Castello di Bibbione spent an evening with him in the centre of Florence a few days before their wedding, and another couple's love session took in the streets of the historic centre.

His recent weddings include ceremonies at the Church of Ognissanti in Florence with a reception at Villa Le Corti in Chianti, the Pieve di Borgo San Lorenzo in the Mugello followed by Villa di Striano, the Church of Argiano in San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Borgo Gallinaio and Borgo Argiano, Villa il Gran Duca, and an autumn elopement at La Corte dei Papi near Cortona. Many of his couples travel from abroad, from London, California and Iowa among others.

He is an ANFM Selected Photographer and a member of the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) and the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA).