MARIA RÃO

REFINED EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

I am the fifth of seven children, born into a family with Portuguese and Argentine roots and, according to my family tree, descended from India. This fusion of cultures shaped me from an early age, making me someone who adapts naturally to different worlds. Fluent in four languages, I grew up surrounded by art, beauty, and business. From my mother I learnt to live in the feminine — with delicacy and grace — and from my father, faith and entrepreneurial vision.

I am passionate about history, art, poetry, painting, cinema, music, wine, gastronomy, tennis, landscapes, hotels — and I am endlessly fascinated by the universe in all its grandeur. People often say to me: “You don’t need other lives… what you need is more lives in this one, to accomplish all that you love.” And it is true — I love to dive deep into many different worlds, for each of them inspires me and fuels my creation.

The first great turning point in my life came in 2010. With a degree in Design, I was working as a creative director in a studio when I decided to change the course of my story. I remember it vividly: at the end of a meeting with a wedding planner, as we were discussing the event’s design, she asked if I knew a photographer. Without hesitation, my soul answered with conviction: “I am a photographer.” I had equipment, but had never photographed a wedding. Still, I felt confident. From the age of sixteen, while studying, I worked as a hostess at events — an experience that gave me both ease and confidence in connecting with people. Today, I understand why I spoke those words: they were the expression of my essence, even before I had recognised it myself.

My earliest memories are inevitably tied to family photography. My grandmother and mother always made a point of recording every birth, every celebration, every moment that brought the family together. Always impeccable, graceful, and attentive to detail, they taught me — in the silent language of elegance — that photography was never merely a record, but a gesture of love, of care, and of legacy.

Today, my work is the reflection of all my experience and evolution — cultural, artistic, and personal. For me, photography is not simply about capturing moments: it is about creating timeless legacies and transmitting invisible messages about each family’s values. Over the past fifteen years, my journey has taken me across the world, telling stories in European palaces and castles, private estates, châteaux, and some of the world’s most prestigious hotels. Every narrative I create is infused with elegance, soul, and artistry.

I immersed myself in the study of etiquette, not as a rigid rule, but as an art of social harmony, beauty, and presence. In visagism, I discovered the understanding of the unique beauty each person carries — and how to reveal the best in everyone. In artistic direction, I found the ability to guide each client naturally, ensuring that every session feels both authentic and refined.

My photography is the synthesis of my values — Essence, Elegance, and Legacy — giving it a distinctive editorial style.

Every image follows my white-glove philosophy, where nothing is left to chance:

• A carefully curated experience from the very first contact,

• Editorial sessions that flow with naturalness and sophistication,

• Heirlooms delivered through fine-art albums and bespoke, handcrafted prints.

My mission is simple yet profound: to transform fleeting instants into art that transcends generations, carrying emotion, strength, and beauty. To create photographs that remain alive — today, tomorrow, and fifty years from now — with the same grace as the moment they were lived.

As I always say: images do not belong to time, they belong to eternity.