Portrait photography with Lorenzo Morandi: photographing people, not poses

Portrait photographer, filmmaker, and author Lorenzo Morandi believes the strongest portraits begin long before the shutter is pressed. Through his editorial project, YourStory, he's spent the past decade building relationships with creatives, artists, and thinkers, using photography to explore the connection between who they are and what they create.

In this interview, he shares how portrait photography transformed his career, the philosophy behind YourStory, and how Affinity supports every stage of his photography, publishing, and filmmaking so he can stay focused on what matters most: the people in front of the camera.

Lorenzo, please tell us a bit about yourself and your creative background.

I live with my family in the countryside near Alessandria, in Italy, in a house that is both our home and a creative space dedicated to photography. I graduated in Civil Engineering and Architecture, and like many students, I first approached photography through architecture, using it to study and explore design projects.

What made you want to start a career in photography?

After several years working as a designer and project manager, I transitioned to professional photography in 2016. The turning point came when I discovered portrait photography. For the first time, I found myself deeply exploring the relationship between people and space, and it felt like an entirely new field of creative discovery.

Not long afterward, I also began working with video, adopting the same direct, subject-focused approach that defines my portrait photography.

How did YourStory come about, and how has it evolved?

YourStory was born in 2016 during a conversation with my wife, Sara, who is also a photographer. I had started photographing people through image sequences that already felt like they were telling stories, and I wondered why not develop that idea into a project of its own.

At the time, I didn't yet consider myself a photographer, so I chose to publish the work under the name YourStory. Over the years, it has become an editorial project documenting the lives and work of creatives, designers, artists, and thinkers whose personal stories are inseparable from what they create.

What I value most is that it comes from a genuine desire to connect with people through photography. It's a project I can pursue without compromise, giving me complete creative freedom and introducing me to extraordinary people and new collaborations. It's also become a way to explore experiences shared by many creative professionals: doubt, the fear of taking risks, the challenge of defining your identity, and the limits we often place on ourselves through style. Those are all things I recognize in my own practice.

This year marks the project's tenth anniversary with the publication of YourStory: Dreamers and Makers, released by Lebled Soloviev Editions. The book, distributed worldwide, brings together the remarkable people I've photographed across Europe and represents an important milestone in my creative journey.

How do you approach a typical portrait shoot?

Most of my shoots take place in my subjects' own working environments, using natural light whenever possible and introducing artificial lighting only when it's needed. Every location is different, so I spend time experimenting until I find the setup that feels most authentic.

In the studio, I don't follow predefined lighting formulas. Every face requires its own light, and I prefer to respond intuitively to the person in front of me rather than applying a universal approach.

When photographing someone, I never search for specific poses. I'm interested in spontaneous expressions that feel as though they've been captured in a suspended moment. Sometimes that means direct eye contact; other times it means looking away. Whatever the approach, light is ultimately what gives the portrait its character.

Just as important as the technical side is creating an atmosphere where people feel comfortable. Conversation and genuine curiosity help build trust, and that's often when the strongest portraits emerge.

What first drew you to Affinity, and how does it support your creative process?

I'm a strong believer in digital minimalism and efficient workflows. I appreciate well-designed, performance-oriented software that does exactly what I need. When I discovered Affinity, its philosophy immediately stood out to me as genuine innovation in a field long dominated by Adobe. Having a single, lightweight application that lets me move seamlessly between image editing and layout design is a major advantage.

I use Capture One to manage large RAW projects and tethered shooting, then move into Affinity for the rest of my workflow. For portrait work, the essential tools are those that allow subtle and controlled adjustments: Frequency Separation, tonal and color adjustments, and precise correction tools such as the Patch Tool, Clone Brush, and occasionally the Liquify Studio for subtle corrections when they're needed. These help me refine the image without overpowering it.

Affinity is just as valuable when preparing and presenting work. I can create templates that let me review how images relate to one another, produce PDF previews for clients, prepare layouts for Instagram, and develop concepts for photography books before sharing them with publishers. It brings every stage of the process together in one place.

How do Capture One and Affinity work together in your workflow?

Affinity becomes central immediately after the RAW acquisition phase. Once I've made the initial adjustments in Capture One, I move into Affinity to manage the rest of the post-production process.

Capture One now has .af file support, which makes the workflow even more seamless. I can send images from Capture One to Affinity for more advanced editing, then bring the finished files back into Capture One for cataloging, delivery, or batch export. It creates a much smoother and more flexible workflow between the two applications.

How do you balance technical retouching with preserving the character of the person you're photographing?

I enjoy the post-production process and often dedicate many hours to it. Rather than trying to make someone appear "perfect," I focus on refining tones, contrast, and color to create an image that feels honest while preserving the person's individuality.

Balancing technique and authenticity is essential. I never aim to transform the subject or erase their character. Retouching, for me, is about respecting the individual and enhancing the expressive potential of light, tones, and atmosphere while preserving what makes each portrait feel true to the person in front of the camera.

How does Affinity fit into your filmmaking workflow alongside Final Cut Pro?

With a strong background in graphic design, I enjoy creating all the visual assets for my productions myself. Affinity's vector and layout tools make it easy to work precisely with grids, margins, and typography while designing titles, captions, infographics, end credits, and other on-screen graphics.

I export these elements as PNG files with transparent backgrounds and place them directly into Final Cut Pro. If anything needs updating, I simply make the changes in Affinity, re-export the files, and they automatically replace the previous versions in the timeline while retaining their duration and effects.

It's a straightforward workflow, but it gives me precise control over every graphic element. I can also export everything as a single PDF for review, making it easy to share concepts with clients and collaborators before production.

You've worked across many creative tools over the years. What do you value most in creative software today?

I value simplicity, performance, and immediacy — the ability to start working without friction, even when time is short or the studio is far away. In those moments, every second matters, and a tool that quietly supports the creative process, rather than demanding attention, becomes essential.

Affinity brings together photography, design, and publishing in a single creative environment, allowing ideas to move freely from one stage to the next. Whether I'm preparing a client presentation, developing a book concept, or creating graphics for a film, I can stay focused on the work instead of thinking about the software.

What advice would you give photographers and filmmakers looking to build a more sustainable creative process?

Don't be afraid to simplify. Reduce the number of tools you rely on until the software almost disappears, allowing you to focus entirely on the work itself. That's when creativity flows most naturally.

Affinity makes that approach much easier by bringing photo editing, design, and publishing together in one place. For photographers and filmmakers, it offers the flexibility to build an efficient creative process without unnecessary barriers, allowing ideas to move freely from capture to final presentation.

To see more of Lorenzo's photography, visit his website, lorenzomorandi.com, and follow him on Instagram @lorenzomorandi.it.

For a deeper look at the stories behind his portraits, explore his editorial project, YourStory, and follow it on Instagram @yourstory.it.

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