Fine Artist and Fashion Photographer
I am a fine artist and fashion photographer. I have also worked as a fashion consultant for more than ten years, developing brand identity strategies centred on image and production. I have photographed campaigns for several national and international fashion brands. In recent months, I have focused more closely on my career as an artist while continuing to work on fashion campaigns for brands such as KIN Cosmetics. Today, many projects have become a reality, including collaborations with MACSON and Value Retail UK, among many others.
Where would I like to be today? I never dream of being in a particular physical place. Instead, I dream of being one step ahead, both personally and professionally. I enjoy the feeling of working towards that next level because it is only through dreaming and hard work that I can turn a dream into reality. Inspiring others to dream makes me feel that I am growing, both professionally and personally. I firmly believe in our capacity as human beings to develop in many areas of life—and in the hard work required to achieve that personal growth.
In 2000, I moved to Milan for family reasons. It was there, entirely by chance, that I came across a job opportunity and began working as a photography assistant to Luca Ugolini, a renowned product photographer. My father is a photographer, and my mother owned a lighting business. From a very young age, I was introduced at home to these two complementary worlds. Photography is nothing other than light. Ninety per cent of Luca’s clients were lighting brands, including Klewe, Prisma, Artemide and Flos. Without deliberately seeking it out, I found myself working within the very world in which I had been raised. After two years, I began my career as a freelance fashion photographer, working with agencies such as Why Not, Beatrice Models, Fashion Management and Riccardo Gay—a career that continues to this day.
I have always loved water. In it, I have always felt free, weightless and filled with genuine inner peace. And yet, when I was only five or six years old, I fell into a swimming pool before I knew how to swim and had to be rescued by one of my cousins. I remember floating face down, watching the bodies of the other swimmers beneath the water and feeling completely at peace as I observed every detail. My next memory is of lying in the infirmary, coughing up the water I had swallowed. The experience did not create a phobia. On the contrary, I became even more drawn to that sensation—to those moments when all you can hear is your own breathing and the beating of your heart.
I would recommend three places rather than just one. The first is Río Tinto in the province of Huelva, Spain—a magical place because of the colour of its water and riverbed. I have visited it several times for work, shooting campaigns and fashion editorials. To me, it would be an ideal location for a Mïau campaign, offering the sensation of being on Mars. In fact, Río Tinto attracted the attention of European space researchers because of its high concentrations of sulphides and sulphates and the presence of life in an environment with very little oxygen.
The second place I recommend for rediscovering the joy of childhood is the Dead Sea in Israel. It is an extraordinary experience, not only because of the body’s buoyancy but also because of the spectacular salt formations along the shore—natural sculptures that leave you speechless.
The third, and most magical place for me, is the Red Sea at Dahab. The Gulf of Aqaba on the Egyptian side is spectacular. It has one of the world’s most extensive coral reef systems and an exceptional diversity of marine flora and fauna. In this area, the reef lies immediately beside the shore. You can simply enter the water and discover every kind of marine life just a few metres away. It feels like stepping into Finding Nemo. When you lift your head above the water and look towards the land, you see the hills of Sinai, whose reddish colour gives the sea its name. Peace, nature and the feeling of being one tiny part of this wonderful planet.
At both Río Tinto and the Red Sea, I would naturally recommend Mïau swimwear—briefs or shorts. For the Dead Sea, however, it is better to wear an old swimsuit that you are not particularly attached to, or to rinse it very thoroughly with fresh water afterwards.
When it comes specifically to rivers, I recommend the aforementioned Río Tinto, the Trebbia near Bobbio in Italy, and a river close to Lugano in Switzerland whose name I would rather not reveal. It is a magical place where centuries of flowing water have carved a canyon into the rock. For something more athletic, I would definitely return to Aragón for a descent of the River Vero in the Sierra de Guara. For these mountain rivers, I would choose shorts rather than briefs.
I am not much of a beach person in the conventional sense, as I do not enjoy sunbathing. My mother always tells me that I have fled from the sun like a vampire ever since I was a baby. For me, therefore, the beach means snorkelling. When I want to swim, I prefer a pool. And I could never forget my diving mask.
Having seen the entire collection and had the opportunity to photograph it, I fell in love with it. I believe it responds to certain aesthetic needs that had previously gone unanswered in the market. Both the shorts and briefs bring together everything I appreciate: sportiness, class, elegance, restraint, fashion and innovation. They achieve all of this without resorting to the loudness of stereotypically “gay” brands or the usual clichés of “fashion”.
Whatever your body shape, the pieces adapt to it. Fashion brands often create swimwear that is uncomfortable or cut from patterns that fail to accommodate different bodies and sizes. Mïau succeeds in addressing all of these considerations.
It does not merely inspire me—it makes tangible everything that a brand should inspire. I am not sure whether I am expressing that clearly. The fact that the pieces are made in Europe using Italian fabrics shows me that producing locally within Europe is still possible.
As I mentioned earlier, based on both my professional and personal experience of photographing many different bodies, I believe Mïau considered every kind of man when designing and cutting its shorts and briefs. The prints can be worn comfortably by anyone, from a mature man to someone younger, and from someone with a classic sense of style to someone more fashion-forward.
The piece I would choose would depend on the person receiving it. But it is undoubtedly the perfect summer gift—or a gift for anyone wishing to enjoy the water in winter.
My favourite designers? You! When it comes to architecture, I admire Joaquín Torres and Rafael Llamazares of A-cero. This is not only because of the sculptural architecture they create and the importance they give to textures and materials, but also because, beyond architecture, they are accomplished painters, sculptors and artists.
As for music, the first name that comes to mind is David Bowie—the shades of blue and pastel pink, and the fabric patterns used by his principal designers.
I do not like to identify with only a few things, yet everything influences me. I believe that artists shape everything around us: figures such as Picasso and Dalí; classical masters such as El Greco and Rubens; fashion icons such as Alexander McQueen and Kris Van Assche; but also anonymous artists—hopefully not for long—such as Antonio Reche and Viktor & Illya.
I am inspired by the painters and musicians found on the streets of any city, and by children playing in a small village near Siem Reap in Cambodia, dressed in fabrics whose combinations might initially seem jarring. I listen to artists such as David Bowie, The Cure, Alan Walker, Woodkid and Antony and the Johnsons, as well as the music playing today in the clubs of cities such as Birmingham and Manchester.
Architects including Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano and Norman Foster have also influenced me, as have practices such as Mecanoo.
My relationship with literature is similarly eclectic. I can read historical, commercial or classical novels. You may laugh, but I have read the Complete Works of Saint Teresa of Ávila. At present, I am reading texts on psychology and psychiatry. I am at a point in my life when I need to understand myself and the human condition—if there is, indeed, anything to understand.
In cinema, I am captivated by Antonia San Juan’s talent as a writer and director, as well as by her acting. I am fascinated by short films such as La China and A las once, and I am also drawn to Eduardo Casanova’s YouTube channel. How could I ever forget the scene in La Dolce Vita featuring the plunge into the Trevi Fountain? I also loved Luc Besson’s The Big Blue.
I prefer escaping to an unfamiliar city because it gives me the opportunity to discover that it might become my new favourite. Every continent attracts me: places as diverse as Tromsø in Norway, where you can experience the Northern Lights, or Tokyo, where you can lose yourself among skyscrapers and seas of people. The world is immense, and it is a shame that we do not have enough time to discover all of it. One city I have loved—and would gladly return to—is Kep in Cambodia.
Mïau is a brand I recommend to everyone, from friends to people within the fashion industry. Its design, quality and price make it an effortless recommendation.
Meows of gratitude, Marcos.
Welcome to the distinguished world of Mïau.