Finding Your Photography Style: Do You Really Need One?

Good morning, dear friends, welcome back!

As always, it’s a great pleasure to have you here. Knowing that every week you take a little time to read my articles means a lot to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you — you’re truly amazing.

Today I want to share something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Actually, it’s something I’ve been wondering about for years.

I’ve been into photography for almost fifteen years now. And yes, I’ll say it again — it’s not my main job. It’s a hobby. But a serious one, something I really love and dedicate a lot of time to.

So, in these fifteen years, there’s one topic that always left me a bit puzzled. And curious at the same time.

Personal style.

I’ve heard it so many times. You need to develop your own style. Your own character. Your own way of being recognizable in a world that’s absolutely flooded with images. And I won’t even get into what AI is doing to all of this — that’s a whole different conversation, and it would take us way off track today.

But the question stays there: what is personal style, exactly?

It happened to me more than once. Scrolling through social media and immediately recognizing a photo from a specific photographer. The color palette. A black and white with a very particular contrast. The type of subject. Or maybe a stylistic choice like intentional motion blur. All these things together create something recognizable. A signature, in a way.

And so, over the years, I kept telling myself: I need to build that. I need a way of shooting, of framing, something that makes people look at one of my photos and think — that’s him.

But how?

I tried. I developed specific editing presets. I pushed certain color palettes. I worked on contrast. But at some point I stopped and asked myself a different question: does it even make sense to force my images into a defined style?

Let me explain what I mean.

I shoot portraits. And I truly believe that every portrait has its own character. It’s shaped by the situation, the mood, the connection you build during the shoot. These things change every time. You can’t really package them.

Because the photo happens while you’re taking it.

In that moment, I feel whether I need soft light or something harder. Not because I haven’t planned — I always do. The concept, the idea, I work on them before the shoot, together with the model and the make-up artist. But the final character of the image? That comes from the moment itself.

So no, I don’t think I want to lock myself into a fixed style just to be recognizable.

A while ago I went back through my portfolio — you can find it on my website, here the link. I wanted to understand where my style actually was. Because I shoot black and white. I shoot color. Sometimes high contrast, sometimes soft. There’s a lot going on.

What’s the common thread?

Looking at everything I’ve shot over the years, I realized something. My style is not in the colors. It’s not in the framing or the contrast.

My style is in the search for emotion.

When I photograph someone, I always look for eye contact. For me, the eyes are everything. That’s where the intensity lives. And what I try to do is wait. Wait for the moment when the model stops posing. When something more natural comes through. Something lighter, less constructed.

She’s still posing, of course — that’s what a portrait session is. But between one pose and the next, there’s a moment. A breath. She relaxes for just a second, lets go, before moving on. That’s the moment I’m after. Sometimes I catch it. Sometimes I don’t.

So if I have to define my style, it’s not about colors or light or contrast — even though I do have a favorite setup, but let’s save that for another article. My style is about emotion. About lightness, about the gaze.

About intimacy.

What do you think? What does personal style mean to you? I’d love to know.

Take care and talk soon!