Mauro Celotti's work in advertising photography is among the very best in the world. Our staff has reviewed hundreds of portfolios for inclusion on Profotos and Mauro's stands out as one of the very best we have ever reviewed in this field of photography. Not only does Mauro excel at the traditional aspects of the medium, but he is also very good at producing digitally enhanced and digitally altered images.

The image on this page is a great example of Mauro's great ability to produce stunning images through digital means. Mauro's work in the digital field began in 1994, with his purchase of a MAC system. In just one year of working digitally, Mauro walked off with 17 Fuji-Profoto awards, including the gold in the computer-aided category!

We hope you enjoy viewing the stellar portfolio of this very talented photographer / designer as much as we have. Mauro Celotti - Master Photographer.,A narrow paved road leads to a building clinging to the mountain side. With sweeping views of the City Bowl, Table Mountain and the harbor, it houses the studio of award winning photographer Mauro Celotti. The studio walls covered in photographic images offer the visitor a glimpse of this man's unique artistry while the many award certificates allude to his success. Then, the sudden offer of a cup of fresh espresso indicates true Italian hospitality - the first giveaway of Mauro's ancestry. The second is found on the wall, striking pictures portraying parts of a small village in northern Italy where Mauro grew up. He was 15 when his family emigrated to South Africa. His soft-spoken, modest way betrays nothing of his wide-ranging aptitude which has seen him employed as department manager in the textile industry, in civil engineering and as the drummer for a blues band, before becoming a celebrated advertising photographer. It was while working in the textile industry where he was exposed to color separation screen printing techniques and darkroom secrets that his interest in photography "developed".

Mauro started his career as a photographer doing model portfolios after buying a photo studio that was for sale. Starting off was not easy. "The first 3 years were very tough for my family and I." With no experience and no portfolio, nobody was interested, the typical catch 22 situation can't get work because you have no experience and yet it is only by getting work that you do gain experience. That first client who had the vision to give Mauro his first break 16 years ago is still a client and friend today. Mauro has never looked back. He did mostly fashion in the beginning but gradually changed to still life photography.

In 1993, the same year he won 14 Fuji-Profoto awards, Mauro bought his first computer and the first step towards excellence in computer-aided photography. In 1994, when a client commissioned him to do a calendar, he took the plunge and bought his first Apple Mac setup. In 1995 he walked off with 17 Fuji-Profoto awards, winning gold in the computer-aided category. He then decided to buy his first digital camera - the Agfa Studiocam in 1996, but lasted him less than a year. "I found it restrictive on the creative side, so I made cyber contact with the engineer who had designed the Dicomed Digital scan back and eventually flew to San Francisco and bought the Better Light also designed by Mike Collette. This is a very high resolution scanning back for still photography. For moving objects I use the Kodack DCS460." Being proficient in Photoshop has kept him abreast of things. "I deliver my work on CD and sometimes the client may retouch the images but mostly I prefer to keep control of the entire process and do all the computer work too."

When Mauro found that his digital printing bills became too high, he bought a 50 inch wide ColorSpan inkjet printer and his purchase has enabled him to provide a complete service from photography to the printed image. The printing side has grown so fast that his wife Gianrita, decided to quit her full time job and run "Poster Mania", the digital printing business. Mauro likes to work in the dead of night when telephones go to sleep and the creativity wakes up.

By Zenda Nel