The Choices of Fabio Catanzaro

Text: Gwen Teo

Fabio Catanzaro is a man of few words. Proof that visuals are his comfort zone can be found on his Instagram feed – where his minimalist style has drawn loyal followers since what seems to be Catanzaro’s first post in 2013 – but also in the way he answers questions: very short.

Catanzaro, 42, describes himself as a ‘self-taught photographer’, whose vision simply embodies what he sees everyday. “Those things and objects that are showing up in front of my eyes.” Now that might not sound very interesting, maybe even boring. But the work of the Venice based observer reveals an eye for unexpected beauty, surprising angles, shapes, and a love for history as well as the contemporary.

photos: Fabio Catanzaro

“Those things and objects that are showing up
 in front of my eyes”

Buildings, street art, vehicles, nature; it is all interesting to Catanzaro. “I am a sensitive aesthete”, is his explanation when asked why he shows parts of his body in his feed and stories every now and then, while he generally seems so reluctant to share more than what he feels is necessary. His bio only states ‘f a b i o’, captions are used for hashtags and emoji’s – one emoji at a time, that is. But Catanzaro considers the construction of his body as ‘the finest form of art, like Greek muscle statues’, so it all makes sense. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear he also focusses on training and eating healthy, ‘not only on photography’. Catanzaro leaves information about his everyday life out of the picture. “I am an employee in Venice.” Even though he calls his workplace very dynamic, he says his passions ‘are more stimulating’ than his job. A search on the internet reveals a tattoo artist in Italy who goes by the same name, Catanzaro says he’s his ‘homonym’.

“I am a sensitive aesthete”

Perhaps Catanzaro’s world is one that fits the description of Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous words: one’s philosophy is not best expressed in words, it is expressed in the choices one makes.

Scroll down for more visuals by Catanzaro.
Follow Fabio Catanzaro on Instagram: fabvp

Fabio Catanzaro’s work has been featured via paradisemagazine_, diss_uk and minimalzine, among others.