Gabriele Compagni approached photography in a spontaneous way, driven by the need to tell stories through images. Long before the word “storytelling” became a cliché, he was already shaping his experiences into visual narratives, making sure no detail was missing. His first steps were on film, first with compact cameras and later with a Contax and a single 50mm lens, often in black and white. The reduced palette allowed him to focus on what would become a constant in his work: the essence of forms. Shapes remain his main obsession, sometimes almost graphic, often imperfect and unexpected, carrying with them a raw kind of beauty.
This attention to form and essence has accompanied him through different phases of life, even beyond photography — from alpinism in high mountains to writing and painting. Yet photography always returned as the red thread linking it all. Later came cinema: fascinated by its ability to create a “look,” to shape worlds through light, depth and colors, he directed his first short film in 2013 and never abandoned the path. Studies in fashion film and the mentorship of a cinematographer deepened his commitment to visual language, leading him naturally into directing alongside photography.
His practice combines preparation and openness: reference and structure on one side, the unpredictability of the human encounter on the other. For him, the set is not a rigid storyboard but a space where improvisation can spark something true. His style is signed by a love for film grain, by handheld gestures in moving image, and by the acceptance of a certain “creative disorder” — a necessary phase before clarity emerges.
Parallel to commercial work, he has carried on personal projects that define his artistic identity: an award-winning artbook created for an industrial company, a long-term photographic series on musicians and backstage life inspired by Guido Harari, a collection of poetry soon to be published, and a body of paintings that extend his exploration of form. Carrying a camera everywhere, he continues to build an archive of spontaneous images, fragments of a visual diary.
He has collaborated with brands such as: Intimissimi, Gucci, Giada Montenapoleone, Elisabetta Franchi, Piquadro, Murphy&Nye, Carrera Jeans, Asti Vini USA, Liu Jo, Autry, Aquardens, Diadora, Calliope, Armani Kids, Marina Rinaldi, Luisa Spagnoli, Tezenis, Gruppo Teddy, and photographed celebrities and athletes including Ascanio Pacelli, Santiago Giménez, Michelle Salas, Francesca Chillemi, Jasmine Paolini, Luka Modrić, Federica Brignone.
His work has appeared in international magazines including GQ, Vogue Taiwan, Harper’s Bazaar, L’Officiel Arabia, Mojeh x Gucci, Schön!, Numéro, FV Magazine New York, Man in Town.
Today, his practice is marked by a constant search for essence and for the unexpected. For Compagni, photography and film are not only tools of representation, but ways of creating worlds — where form, imperfection and sensitivity come together to tell stories that resist predictability.