Mariano counts Philip Perkis as the photographer who has inspired him the most. “[He’s] a fantastic human being and a wonderful artist. His respect for life and the way in which this regard influences his way of taking pictures touched me deeply when I was his student at Pratt Institute. Phil is a photographer’s photographer. It was providential to have him as a guide and he has been an enormous influence in the kind of pictures I take since I met him.”

Other photography that has also influenced Mariano is abstract impressionism, The Hudson River art movement, the nature writings of Barry Lopez, and the medieval tapestry “The Lady and the Unicorn”, and finally, Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa.” Not a conventional list of influential works – but then again (in keeping with One Naked Egg’s style), Mariano is anything but a conventional photographer.