Rossano B. Maniscalchi is an internationally renowned visual artist working in photography and film. Born in Florence, where his main studio is based, he has pursued for over thirty years a deep and coherent exploration of the evocative power of the image, consistently navigating diverse fields such as portraiture, fashion, advertising art, and auteur cinema.
His photographic work has earned worldwide recognition and visibility. His portraits, known for their compositional strength and emotional intensity, have captured some of the most emblematic figures of our time—including Barack Obama, Tilda Swinton, Michelangelo Antonioni, King Charles III, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wim Wenders, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Susan Sontag, Ray Manzarek (The Doors), Mikhail Gorbachev, Salman Rushdie, Andrea Bocelli, Rita Levi Montalcini, and Milos Forman.
He has collaborated with some of the most prestigious fashion and luxury brands—Ferragamo, Cartier, Armani, Max Mara, Levi’s, Guess, Stefanel, Calvin Klein, Mercedes-Benz—while always maintaininga strong artistic identity even within commercial projects. His style, both essential and refined, is distinguished by its balance between aesthetics and concept, with particular attention to light, composition, and the psychological depth of the subject.
In parallel with his photographic practice, since 2017 Maniscalchi has embarked on a cinematic journey, establishing himself as a director and creator of fashion films, documentaries, and art shorts. His works—including Cocoon Redux, Touch Me, Denying Beauty, Anyway, In the Ring, The Key to Heaven, Beyond, It’s Not Dark Yet, and Nexus—have received awards and acclaim at major international festivals such as the La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival (USA), the Global Short Film Awards in Cannes, the Los Angeles Fashion Film Festival, the Toronto International Fashion Film Festival, and the Bucharest Fashion Film Festival.
In 2023, Beyond earned him the “Best Film,” “Best Director,” and “Best Fashion & Beauty Film” awards in Cannes. In 2024, he addressed social themes for the first time with It’s Not Dark Yet, receiving widespread recognition for its narrative depth and visual impact. In 2025, he received the awards for “Best Director” and “Best Fashion & Beauty Film” for his short film Nexus at the Global Short Film Festival in Cannes.
Rossano B. Maniscalchi’s language is deeply auteur-driven: his vision is nourished by cross-contaminations between photography, painting, cinema, fashion, and the philosophy of the image. His work continues to be exhibited in contemporary art museums and galleries across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and his editorial publications are widely acclaimed by both the public and critics.
A multifaceted and visionary artist, Maniscalchi sees the image as a space for reflection on identity, the body, time, and memory—a constant dialogue between beauty, thought, and form.
