Dario Perizzolo – Portrait of a Photographer

Matt Payne

Matt Payne is a landscape photographer and mountain climber from Durango, Colorado. He’s the host of the weekly landscape photography podcast, “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen,” co-founder of the Nature First Photography Alliance, and co-founder of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. He lives with his wife, Angela, his son Quinn, and his four cats, Juju, Chara, Arrow, and Vestal.

mattpaynephotography.com

There are a few questions worth asking before we ever raise a camera to our eye. Who are we making photographs for, and why does that answer keep changing over time? What happens when the thrill of new gear or fleeting attention fades away? And perhaps most importantly, what role do we actually want photography to play in our lives, not just as image-makers, but as people moving through the world?

These are not abstract questions for Dario Perizzolo. They sit at the center of his photographic journey, shaping not only what he photographs, but how photography has become integrated into his sense of purpose, community, and daily life. His images, often quiet, contemplative, and rooted in familiar landscapes, reflect a deeper recalibration, one that many photographers eventually face, whether they realize it or not.

Like many creative paths, Dario’s began early and innocently. His first exposure to photography came not from chasing epic scenes or technical mastery, but from watching his mother make simple panoramic images during family trips to Italy. They were humble constructions, film frames taped together and hung on the wall, but they carried something powerful. They were personal, tangible, and deeply meaningful. That early sense of magic lingered, even as photography remained mostly in the background through his younger years, present but not yet fully claimed.