Paul Renato Torcello (31 October 1954–5 November 2021), a Prahran graduate known for his commercial and advertising photography, was born in Trieste, Italy, and migrated with his family to Australia. After studying at Caulfield Institute and then in sculpture, painting and photography at Prahran College. Deciding to specialise in photography, he finished his education at Photography Studies College.

In 1986, Torcello exhibited his early commercial works at The Photographers’ Gallery, marking the beginning of his career. He began assisting photographer Robert Imhoff at The Lighthouse in Prahran and gained recognition in 1986 as the Advertising Photographer of the Year.

Establishing Torcello Photography in Hawthorn East, he focused initially on studio still-life and later expanded into advertising and fashion. His clientele included notable brands like American Express, BHP, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, China Airlines, Mitsubishi and Landrover.

Torcello’s work extended beyond studio settings in his production of a body of Australian landscapes. However, controversy arose in 2006 when a contract for depicting Australia’s environment for Tourism Australia to a UK photographer Pete Seaward scandalised advertising circles and was a cause taken up in parliament by the Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Resources, Forestry and Tourism Martin Ferguson MP, who remarked that “The choice overlooks internationally recognised local photographers including Paul Torcello…”

Torcello’s inspirations were the great still life and portrait photographers Athol Shmith, Irving Penn, Arnold Newman and the moodily lit or mysterious candlelit environments, the soft light and chiaroscuro, of master painters Rembrandt and Caravaggio. He adhered to Ansel Adams’ principle of previsualistion in his compositions and the quality of light that he pursued.

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Working before the advent of digital photography, the majority of his commercial work was shot on medium to large format film which, in order to achieve the depth of field required in a single exposure, required considerable flash power which on location would require petrol-driven generators or lighting trucks, while today’s high resolution DSLRs and mirrorless cameras can produce even better results from smaller, portable, battery-powered flash units.

In addition to his photography, Torcello served as a judge for the 43rd and 44th Annual Adelaide Advertising and Design Club Awards, contributing to industry standards.

Between 1986 and 2000 Torcello continuously received awards, including the 1988 and 1998 IAA in New York, the 1991 CAA in Singapore, and Gold at the Adelaide (1987) and Brisbane (1990) Advertising and Design Clubs. For his series for the Save the Children Fund he was a winner in the ACT Responsible Tributes Award Winners of 2010.

As early as 1987 he had work accepted by the International Museum of Photography as part of a permanent exhibit Photography for Advertising: The history of a modern art form. In 2000 he was recognised with a Gold Award in the Advertising Life Series, Association of Photographers 17th Awards. His work found a place in prestigious collections like the Eastman Museum, and he published works including Tall Buildings of Asia & Australia.

While Torcello’s time at Prahran was brief, he frequently remarked on the lasting and positive influence of the lecturers there who taught him, in particular Athol Shmith’s studio methodology and Paul Cox’s cinematographic storytelling.

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