Stefano "Za" picked up his first camera as a teenager and has loved photography, particularly slides, ever since. As a computer science student at the State University of Milan, he often visited via Lecco, the historical headquarters of what is now Yamato Video.
Passionate about historical fencing, the fantasy world, and Japanese culture, he found in cosplay photography a hobby that he has cultivated for almost thirty years.
In the early 2000s, he ended his career as a competitive volleyball player and entered the world of cinema as a stuntman, where he worked for about a decade in productions by Rai, Mediaset, and Disney.
Parallel to all this, he has dedicated himself to many other photographic genres with particular interest in sports photography and the Japanese erotic art called shibari, which derives from a medieval martial art called hojojutsu.
In 2015 he founded AIFA Cosplay, a photographic group that seeks to bring enthusiasts of this photographic genre towards common goals of collaboration and mutual respect, promoting quality photographic activity within comic conventions with a focus on respect for cosplayers. Over the years, he has established excellent relationships with various organizations in the sector, including BHC, Think Comics, MJC, TNO, and many others.
His philosophy is based on the fact that a cosplayer's real ability does not lie in the quality of the costume they wear, just as a photographer's skill does not depend on the equipment used, nor is it measured by counting followers. He is strictly against selection-based events because he believes that this creates division and animosity in the cosplay world.
His motto: "Photography is not a competition".