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PEOPLE
Tommaso Riva
PHOTOGRAPHY
Tommaso Riva
WORDS
Bingyi
EDITOR
Bingyi
Collection

Tommaso Riva is an Italian photographer specializing in architecture and interior photography. Living and working between Europe and Asia, he moves through different cities and rhythms, searching for a sense of order that feels his own — finding balance in every pause and transition. In his images, rhythm is always present, yet never hurried. His works are minimal but charged with emotion. “Moody. Minimal.” — as he describes them — is more than a visual style; it is a way of seeing the world.

Photography was not part of Tommaso’s original plan. In 2006, while working in finance in New York and playing jazz at night, the rhythm of the city led him to a different kind of improvisation. “At that time, no one was using iPhones — being photographed was something special,” he recalls. “I knew nothing about photography. I just felt the sudden urge to start shooting people, jazz, the night — all in black and white. People loved to be photographed and it was great to photograph them, no one was on the phone.” New York became the spark that set everything in motion.

A few years later, a turning point came in a café. A photographer he just met showed him a lens, it was a 50mm lens — Tommaso tried it once and immediately knew he had found what he was looking for. The distance, the depth, the ability to capture scenes in low light — it was the point of view he was looking for. After two years he left his job in finance and relocated to Italy, and not long after, he began shooting backstage for fashion. The real epiphany came during a backstage for photographer R. Vimercati. That experience made him realize that his way of working could become a profession: using only prime lenses, no flash, letting the image stay organic and breathe naturally. With limited tools, he learned to observe more deeply.

Tommaso started with people and the night, but found his true direction in interior spaces. A commission for L’Officiel at Dimore Studio in Milan became a defining moment. “When I walked into their home, I had a revelation — I knew immediately this was what I wanted to photograph next.” From then on, his work centered on the relationship between architecture, space, and light. He is drawn to what he calls “sexy spaces”: space, people, nature, light — but all must remain pure, unadorned, and free from excess but with a sense of evokative beauty.

Other photographers that had a strong influence on him are Henry C. Bresson, Koudelka, and Ugo Mulas. Yet for Tommaso, what shaped him most wasn’t just photography. “Other forms of art have influenced me just as deeply — music, cinema, literature. They taught me how to see, not just how to shoot.”

Tommaso’s inspirations often come from the worlds of film and music. He speaks fondly of the works that shaped his sensibility — from Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, Blow-Up, and Bill Cunningham New York, to Truffaut’s Day for Night and Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Music is equally vital to his rhythm. Jazz remains his foundation: Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert and Spirits, Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue, and the works of Chet Baker, Bill Evans, and Gerry Mulligan have all shaped the quiet tension and freedom that define his images. “These films and sounds helped me understand photography again,” he says.

“I love light — I can spend a long time just searching for a particular kind of light,” Tommaso told us. In his world, light is not merely a condition for photography; it is, in essence, an aesthetic. He is devoted to photographing things that fascinate him — even when they are not immediately visible to others. Behind that quiet fascination lies a process of immense focus and labor.

On set, Tommaso works with an almost obsessive precision toward light and compositional boundaries yet mantaining a very organic way of shooting, rarely using a tripod. He almost never crops his frames and avoids relying on photo retouch, striving instead to achieve a near-final image in-camera. A great deal of his effort goes into editing colors — ensuring it never feels overly “digital.” Influenced by his background in jazz and movies, Tommaso tends to capture reality in a cinematic way. The hardest, and often most time-consuming, part of his work comes afterward — selecting the images that best tell the story.

What he pursues is a restrained light with an almost cool, emotional temperature. His images are never loud or showy; instead, they awaken a quiet resonance through the subtlest shifts of brightness, density, and atmosphere. “I hope people can feel something special,” he says. “If someone tells me they find my images mysterious or emotional, it means we’re on the same frequency.”

“I enjoy interior commissions where clients don’t overemphasize commercial goals and instead allow full creative freedom,” Tommaso says. “They understand my vision — they know we’re a good match.” In his view, truly good projects share a few essential qualities: originality, respect for context, and a balance with reality — including time and budget. “I like projects that are original — especially those that don’t disrupt the environment they belong to.”

Tommaso usually works independently, but when the client is also a designer or artist, the work truly begins to shine. Mutual trust and shared aesthetics often lead to the best outcomes. His collaborations with Max Jencquel, George Gorrow, Dan Mitchell, and Elora Hardy of Ibuku exemplify this — all highly original, open-minded, and forward-thinking creators. “When collaboration is built on trust and a shared vision, the result becomes extraordinary. None of us are willing to compromise easily — and that’s exactly how I like to work: always striving for the best.”

There is no noise in Tommaso Riva’s photography — it is quiet, restrained, yet deeply penetrating. Much like the photographer himself: disciplined, patient, and continually in practice. “Find your voice, and start from within,” he says. “Don’t look at Instagram, don’t imitate others — stay original at any cost, otherwise it loses its meaning.” There’s a quote he often recalls, though he can’t remember who said it: “The purpose of art (and photography) is not to represent, but to evoke.” That — the ability to extend feeling inward from the image — is what Tommaso strives for: simplicity, honesty, and depth.

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