For this story, Mariano’s still lifes are “simply about the way things look and stand in opposition to the very conceptual, idealized images in trend at the moment,” he says. “I wanted to free myself from the control that the studio can give you and to let chance be a part the photography. To work with no pre-conceived ideas of what the final result should be.”

“Losing control can a bit of a frightening idea after so many years of working in a studio,” Mariano admits, “but in many ways is not much different than what I was doing when I was 12. This project has made me believe again that the camera absolutely possesses some magic.”