
Who is him?
He was born in Sansepolcro in 1970. At the age of fifteen he was introduced to the darkroom and to the mystery of black and white which to this day still fascinates him, like some kind of magic that grips the soul. In 1989 he moved to Florence where he decided that he would make photography his life. He gave up his studies in biology so that he could dedicate himself full time to his career as a photographer. In 1996 he went to Milan to work in advertising photography. It was there that his portfolio of life histories was held in high regard and his photographs began to appear on the printed page. He decided to leave the photography studio and view camera in order to travel and tell stories with Nikon.
His photos appeared in all the most important magazines and national and international daily newspapers. In 1997 he gave his first personal exhibition at Sansepolcro, entitled “Albanians from Albania”. His photos of the war in Kosovo became a touring exhibition from 1998 to 1999 which reached all the most important Italian towns. These were chosen for a permanent exhibition
in Friedens Museum in Nuernberg.
Following a basketball accident he was forced to use crutches from 1999 to 2000 and so by chance he began teaching photography at various schools in Florence. In 2003 he founded his own school of photography called TheDarkroom which today has become TheDarkroom Photos. He has once again taken up and is expanding his projects in photo journalism, especially in the Balkans, thanks to having met Patricio Estay and the Nazca Pictures photographic agency with whom he has been working this year. His photojournalistic work is represented by Nazca Pictures.
With his taped war-Nikon camera in the left picture. On top of a high step-
ladder with a Manfrotto self-madedevice in the right one, to take pictures ofa very high statue at Uffizi museum, Florence.
His work is internationally recognized and his courses attract students from all over the world.
Professional Information
For his job Michele Pero uses only equipments of superior quality, either traditional or digital.For wedding photography he uses exclusively Carl Zeiss and Schneider-Kreuznach lenses on Rollei cameras.
The sound-less Rolleiflex, either reflex or twin lens, provide him with the highest discretion possible during the ceremony.
He carefully sets up the light in the church and uses flash systems to get the best lighting condition.
He works with medium format film to achieve the highest image quality, either in colour or black and white.
For documentary, commercial and architectural photography he uses the ultimate Nikon D3 digital system with lenses from super wide-angle zoom 14-24 mm to 300 mm, including two PC Nikkor 35 mm and Olympus Zuiko Shift24 mm for Nikon lenses. He uses Epson scanners, Epson 3000 and CanonPixma printers, he post-produces his works on Apple Macintosh iMac Intel with Apple Aperture
2 and Adobe Photoshop CS4.He moreover uses Rolleiflex 6000 series with lenses ranging from Distagon 40 mm to Sonnar 150 with 2x lens, Toyo Wiew 5x7in, 4x5in and 6x9cm view cameras, with Schneider-Kreuznach, Rodenstock, Fujinon and Nikon lenses, from Super Angulon 47mm to Tele Xenar 360 mm. He works both with film and digital systems. He uses the Mamiya Universal 23 6x9cm system with lenses from 50mm to 250mm, Toyo View 45A and Nikon classic cameras for his personal research.
Michele Pero has two darkrooms equipped for both colour RA4 and black and white classic processes where develops, edits, prints and personally finishes his pictures.
Main Assignments and Projects:
- The nomadic of the wind, photoreportage, Ponza and Ventotene, 2010
- Mossa Gioiellieri, Firenze, catalogue, 2010
- Hares project, Italy 2010 (work in progress)
- Bektashi, photoreportage, Albania, 2009
- South Albania, photoreportage, 2008

- Advertisement photography for Casa Buitoni, Nestlé Italy, 2008-2010
- Ohrid and Maqedonia, photoreportage, 2008
- "Meteora", photoreportage, Greece, 2008
- "Photographers on portrait", 2008
- "Novrùz", Albania, 2008
- Park Hotel Fiesole, interior photography2007-2009
- Advertisement campaign for Wilson Miller, ads shooting, 2007
- Advertisement campaign for Robert Friedman, catalog layout, graphic design, shooting, 2005
- Advertisement campaign for CEPU Grandi Scuole, shooting, 2005
- Advertisement campaign for Nestlé Japan, shooting, 2004
- Advertisement campaign for Aboca Erbe, shooting, 2004
- Flood of Prague, 2002
- "Berlin", 2001
- Stage photography for De Beers Diamonds spot, for J. Walter Thompson, Milan and Bejing, 2001
- Advertisement campaign for ETI Ente Tabacchi Italiano, on Tuscan cigars, concept and shooting, 2000-2002
- Photoreportage on weapons traffic from Albania to Kosovo, 1998
- "The dervishes of Prizren", Kosova, 1998

- Photoreporter on assignment for the war of Kosovo, 1997-1998
- "Prague Spring thirty years after", 1998
- "Prague", 1997-2002
- Civil fights in Albania, 1997
- Earthquake in Umbria, Italy, 1997
- "Albanians of Albania", 1996
- "Journey to Sicily", 1996-1997
- Director of Cinematography for short cut "The fly" by Aldo and Alessandro Cernuto, 1996
- Director of Cinematography for short cuts, 1996-1998
- Freelance photoreporter from 1992, higlighted with "Croatia and Bosnia at border", 1992.
Teaching Experiences:

- Academic Director at
TheDarkroom , School of Professional Photography, Visual Communication and Multimedia, Florence, 2003-present - Photography Department Supervisor at Lorenzo de' Medici, Florence, 2006-2009
- Seminar on Photojournalism for Fotografando, Porto Ercole and Orbetello, 2007
- Photography Department Coordinator at Lorenzo de' Medici, Florence, 2005-2006
- Teacher of Photography at Lorenzo de' Medici, 2005-present
- Teacher of Photography for Arizona University, Florenc, 2004
- Teacher of Photography for Art.é, 1998-2003
- Teacher of Cinematography - ITCI Sansepolcro, 1997
Main Publications on:
Vogue, Futabasha Editions, Il Corriere della Sera, Sette, La Stampa, Specchio, La Repubblica, Il Venerdì, Il Manifesto, L’Espresso, Il Messaggero, L’Unità, Il Giornale, Il Diario, Avvenimenti, Case&Country ... and many others.
Clients:
Mossa Gioiellieri, Firenze, Nestlé Italy, Park Hotel Fiesole, Wilson Miller UK, CEPU, Nestlé Japan, Aboca Erbe, Futabasha Editions Japan, Lorenzo de' Medici Firenze, Robert Friedman, J Walter Thompson Milan and Bejing.
Exhibitions:
- Kosovo - Friedensmuseum, permanent exhibition, Nuernberg, 1998-2000.
- Kosovo, I Care – I Care - Torin, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, 1998-1999.
- Albanesi d'Albania - Metamultimedia – Sansepolcro, 1997
Countries visited on assignment
Switzerland, Austria, France, England, Canada, Principality of Monaco, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Republic of San Marino, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Erzergovina, Croatia, Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Tunisie, Spain, Principality of Liechtenstein.