Paolo Roversi is a contemporary Italian fashion and commercial photographer. Characterized by soft, monochromatic photographs of women, his work often features figures shrouded in shadow and photographed with special care to accentuate striking facial features. Born in 1947 in Ravenna, Italy, Roversi’s photography began in his teenage years and continued when he was employed by the Associated Press in 1970, and briefly hired as the assistant to Laurence Sackman in 1974. His career has bloomed to include celebrity and fashion photography at publications such as Elle, Vogue, and Marie Claire. Continuing to be a major force in contemporary fashion, he is notable for his use of 8×10 Polaroid film, which is no longer produced. “My photography is more subtraction than addition. I always try to take off things,” Roversi has said. “We all have a sort of mask of expression. You say goodbye, you smile, you are scared. I try to take all these masks away and little by little subtract until you have something pure left.” His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions worldwide, including at Pace MacGill Gallery in New York, James Gallery in Moscow, and Comme des Garçons in Tokyo, among others. He lives and works in Paris, France.