ENTERING CANADIAN PHOTOGRAPHER Raphael Mazzucco’s Montauk home, you’ll quickly find that what was once a living room has been converted into a working studio space. The place is a hive of creativity: Huge pieces of artwork lay up against the wall, and paint and resin cover the floor. One of Mazzucco’s assistants is heating his latest work with a blowtorch to keep air bubbles out of the resin.
Mazzucco’s work is the definition of sexy, with beautiful bodies layered in paint, found objects and resin. Raffy (as his friends know him) boasts an editorial résumé that reads like every hetero man’s dream come true— Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, Victoria’s Secret and Playboy shoots, and more than a dozen Guess Jeans campaigns. When music producer Jimmy Iovine sent will.i.am out to make a music video and he came back with one composed exclusively of rear ends, Mazzucco was commissioned to create the accompanying photo essay, “Culo by Mazzucco.”
And his work isn’t just a feast for the eyes. Mazzucco has seamlessly channeled his art into numerous charities, including his recent partnership with friend Anthony Russell in the Shompole Lodge, a luxury resort in East Africa whose focus is saving the lion population and preserving land while nurturing the local community. Mazzucco’s celebrity portraits have also been auctioned through Bono and Matt Damon’s One x One charity. Now that’s a beautiful thing. miconworldwide.com
