Description
Description
Great Talks about Photo Realism by Bogdan Sasu is a book that promises to unveil the stories of some of the best international visualization artists in the industry. If you’ve ever wondered what the secrets behind creating photo-realistic images are, you now have a chance to peek inside the great minds who have already captured the attention in the field.
The book is the very first such project uniting world-renowned artists in the 3D community. It has been a challenge, but we are very proud to have been able to bring this project to life.
We would like to thank our mentor Fabio Palvelli without whom none of this would have been possible, as well as to our partners Evermotion, D2 Conferences and CGArchitect. Many thanks to the incredible artists who contributed with some of their best artworks and wonderful stories:
Johannes Lindqvist





Johannes Lindqvist is a Swedish, fully-fledged 3D Visualisation artist. With 10+ years of experience in the industry, with IKEA as previous employers, today he runs the Visualisation studio Illusive images together with his dear friend, Daniel Reuterswärd.
Motto: “We are creatives. Artists with an obsession for details and a great passion for our craft. We challenge the industry by delivering photorealistic 3D visualisations of the highest grade. For us, it’s all about your image.”
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
“I believe that renderers are a bit like clothes: they all serve the same purpose, but some just fit some people better than others, mainly because of their personality.”
Lucia Frascerra





Lucia Frascerra is an architectural visualizer, born in Livorno, Italy in 1988. From childhood, it became immediately evident that her passion for art and drawing would take her to attend art school, resulting in her graduation with honors from the University of Florence, Faculty of Architecture.
Lucia Frascerra is an architectural visualizer, born in Livorno, Italy in 1988. From childhood, it became immediately evident that her passion for art and drawing would take her to attend art school, resulting in her graduation with honors from the University of Florence, Faculty of Architecture.
Her interest in architectural design goes parallel with another more overwhelming passion, computer graphics for architecture. After graduation she decided to undertake a career as a 3D Visualizer, motivating her to complete the “Virtual Architecture Master” at the Italian Academy of Computer Graphics INRENDER, which will open her doors to the world of architectural visualization.
At the end of her studies, she became Post Production teacher at the INRENDER Academy, whilst working as a freelancer. In 2015 she moved to London to join DBOX, one of the most influent studios in the industry, where she worked until the beginning of 2018, when she joined Cityscape Digital, another leading company in the archviz field.
Her personal work was nominated in the CGArchitect’s 3D Awards 2015 (“Snow in the City”), won the 1st Award in the Evermotion Challenge 2015 (“Tea Time”), an Honorable Mention in the Project Soane Competition 2016 (“The Bank”) and was featured in two publications of 3D Artist Italia Magazine (“Snow in the city” and “Tea Time”).
Today, Lucia works in London for Cityscape Digital as Senior Visualisation Artist.
Manó Karlinger





Manó Karlinger is a 3D architectural illustrator and graphic designer from Budapest, Hungary who creates visuals of the Unbuilt. Currently, he is a graduate industrial design engineer student at University of Óbuda.
During his studies, he got close various art forms such as fine arts or classical music but architectural visualisation and graphic design are the most suitable medium for him to express his artistic vision and creed. His passion is making photorealistic images with deep meaning through an artistic narrative to achieve a strong emotional impact.
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
“Our profession hides infinite opportunities. We are practically Gods of a virtual space. We create something out of nothing. ‘And it was so’ an image. But this freedom comes with huge responsibility. We have so much power we may not even realize it: the power of influencing how society perceives certain phenomena. Let us feel its weight and grow up to the task. One could change the world with an image. That is why a personal artwork is all about the meaning for me.”
Eduard Caliman





Eduard Caliman is a 3D Visual Artist based in Leeds, UK. He is 28 years old and has been in the industry since its beginnings when it took off. His studies involved something completely different from visual arts – he studied Economics – but has always been into graphics. He would often learn in his spare time about various software and saw what could be achieved with the tools available at the time.
The passion for graphics in general started when he was 14 but he began working professionally at studios in Italy when he was 19.
He is currently owner at Eduard Caliman Visualization in Leeds, United Kingdom.
About Eduard Caliman Visualization:
It’s a visualization studio passionate about creating aesthetic visuals of interiors, exteriors, product advertising, marketing, catalogues and yachts. They collaborate closely with interior designers, architects, creative agencies and product manufacturing companies to visualize their products, ideas and projects.
Mottos:
“Driven by a passion for design, I strive to create visually striking images that are aesthetically pleasing and serve the purpose of my clients.”
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” George Bernard Shaw
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
“I think the realization that you have created something aesthetically-pleasing gives you a hit of dopamine that gets you to continue creating.”
Jakub Čech





Jakub Čech is an award-winning, multi-disciplined CGI artist with more than ten years of experience. He is the CEO and Creative Director of his eponymous studio, and Creative Director at Mode Maison. Fusing art and technology to create inspired computer generated images, Jakub’s work is founded on the principle that CGI is an art tool.
Born and raised in a small Slovakian village, Jakub has been working with CGI tools since he was a teenager, and has always been fascinated by the intricacies of nature and the way light impacts an image.
His curiosity, innovation and artistic flair has led to collaborations with some of the world’s leading architects, designers and makers. With a deep technical knowledge of CGI, Jakub is highly respected in the industry and sought after as an educator and speaker.
Motto:
“CGI is an artistic tool just like painting or sculpting is. Exploration of yourself reflected in images created with it makes for meaningful and beautiful work.”
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
“Go and explore. Find your triggers, your inner feelings and use CGI only as a tool to express yourself. That’s what is always going to last and matter in the end.”
Mohit Sanchaniya




Mohit Sanchaniya is a 24 year-old Architectural Visualization Artist from Bengaluru, India. In 2017, he moved to Stockholm, Sweden to work for a studio called TMRW. In his portfolio, one can find images produced mostly for architecture. When he was in India, he was working as a freelancer for architects across India and international.
He has come quite far in the archviz industry in the past few years, coming from a country which has very little exposure in visualization to working for a great company in Sweden. It took hard work, dedication and perseverance to become the artist he is today.
He has worked directly in all stages of a traditional 3d production pipeline. He is specialized in lighting, post production and photographic direction. With each visual he creates, he strives to combine his passion for computer generated imagery with the love for interior design, architecture and enjoy the process of modelling. He works with experimental CGI and design projects, which have an important role in his intellectual and conceptual development.
Motto: “For me, archviz is all about showcasing the architecture through an artistic masterpiece. Art is the most intense mode and form to bring out the true potential of your Imagination.”
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
“With a strong sense of determination, you can become anything. I am just a self-taught CG Artist who has somehow made his way.”
Michela Tonelli





Michela Tonelli is an architect who graduated from the School of Architecture in Florence. In 2016, she founded MTSYS, a platform where education activities (courses, workshops and conferences) and image production converge. Since 2017, she is an official trainer of V-Ray for Cinema 4D.
She is also a Visiting Professor at the course of “Communication of the Design Project” at the School of Architecture of Florence and “Drawings Techniques and Technologies” at Istituto Europeo di Design IED of Florence.
About MTSYS:
Established in 2016, the studio has a strong experience in architectural field. MTSYS is a creative team that specialises on visualizing unbuilt architecture and providing an effective visual communication. The studio is based in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy.
Motto: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
“A project doesn’t exist without good communication.”
Raphael Rau





Raphael Rau is an artist who specializes in photorealistic physically based computer generated imagery and animation based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. His work ranges from art direction to creation of logo animations, packshots and CG shorts.
He currently works as a trainer / tutor and freelancer but he is also open to in-house work whenever available.
Motto:
“Knowing the physics gave me a foundation. Seeing the World gave me Inspiration. Creating is about devotion, practice, understanding and experience. But mostly about observing. Thus before you can create, you have to first observe and understand. Through understanding, matter is given soul to inspire and thrive.”
Dušan Vukčević
Dušan Vukčević





Dušan Vukčević is a self-taught 3D artist with over 15 years of experience in the CG industry. He specializes in architectural visualisations and animations. He collaborates with the world’s top creative studios, companies and individuals from his small office in a remote part of Slovenia.
His passion and obsession for design, detail and photorealism has driven him to create numerous personal projects, which brought him many awards and publications. He was selected as one of 3D Artist’s top 100 influential and talented artists in the world.
-
Motto:
- “My passion for photo-realism, detail and design drives me to create. I focus on what excites me and I constantly push myself to evolve as an artist. I am rediscovering myself through creative freedom and through exploring my imagination.”
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “You will come to a point when progress slows down, when things get tough. This is where many artists give up and this is where your opportunity is. This is when you should keep going, make that extra step, experiment, explore and gain edge over everybody else.”
Dušan Vukčević





Dušan Vukčević is a self-taught 3D artist with over 15 years of experience in the CG industry. He specializes in architectural visualisations and animations. He collaborates with the world’s top creative studios, companies and individuals from his small office in a remote part of Slovenia.
His passion and obsession for design, detail and photorealism has driven him to create numerous personal projects, which brought him many awards and publications. He was selected as one of 3D Artist’s top 100 influential and talented artists in the world.
-
Motto:
- “My passion for photo-realism, detail and design drives me to create. I focus on what excites me and I constantly push myself to evolve as an artist. I am rediscovering myself through creative freedom and through exploring my imagination.”
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “You will come to a point when progress slows down, when things get tough. This is where many artists give up and this is where your opportunity is. This is when you should keep going, make that extra step, experiment, explore and gain edge over everybody else.”
Johannes Lindqvist
Johannes Lindqvist is a Swedish, fully-fledged 3D Visualisation artist. With 10+ years of experience in the industry, with IKEA as previous employers, today he runs the Visualisation studio Illusive images together with his dear friend, Daniel Reuterswärd.
-
Motto:
- “We are creatives. Artists with an obsession for details and a great passion for our craft. We challenge the industry by delivering photorealistic 3D visualisations of the highest grade. For us, it’s all about your image.”
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “I believe that renderers are a bit like clothes: they all serve the same purpose, but some just fit some people better than others, mainly because of their personality.”




Lucia Frascerra
Lucia Frascerra is an architectural visualizer, born in Livorno, Italy in 1988. From childhood, it became immediately evident that her passion for art and drawing would take her to attend art school, resulting in her graduation with honors from the University of Florence, Faculty of Architecture.
Her interest in architectural design goes parallel with another more overwhelming passion, computer graphics for architecture. After graduation she decided to undertake a career as a 3D Visualizer, motivating her to complete the “Virtual Architecture Master” at the Italian Academy of Computer Graphics INRENDER, which will open her doors to the world of architectural visualization.
At the end of her studies, she became Post Production teacher at the INRENDER Academy, whilst working as a freelancer. In 2015 she moved to London to join DBOX, one of the most influent studios in the industry, where she worked until the beginning of 2018, when she joined Cityscape Digital, another leading company in the archviz field.
Her personal work was nominated in the CGArchitect’s 3D Awards 2015 (“Snow in the City”), won the 1st Award in the Evermotion Challenge 2015 (“Tea Time”), an Honorable Mention in the Project Soane Competition 2016 (“The Bank”) and was featured in two publications of 3D Artist Italia Magazine (“Snow in the city” and “Tea Time”).
Today, Lucia works in London for Cityscape Digital as Senior Visualisation Artist.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “The power of communicating emotions is invaluable. Architects and artists do it every day through their work, and I believe that Architectural Visualization is the perfect balance between Architecture and Art – that’s why I love it so much.
- Every image I make is the result of an intellectual journey and a large amount of research – every detail is studied to tell a story, nothing is left to chance.”





Manó Karlinger
Manó Karlinger is a 3D architectural illustrator and graphic designer from Budapest, Hungary who creates visuals of the Unbuilt. Currently, he is a graduate industrial design engineer student at University of Óbuda.
During his studies, he got close various art forms such as fine arts or classical music but architectural visualisation and graphic design are the most suitable medium for him to express his artistic vision and creed. His passion is making photorealistic images with deep meaning through an artistic narrative to achieve a strong emotional impact.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “Our profession hides infinite opportunities. We are practically Gods of a virtual space. We create something out of nothing. ‘And it was so’ an image. But this freedom comes with huge responsibility. We have so much power we may not even realize it: the power of influencing how society perceives certain phenomena. Let us feel its weight and grow up to the task. One could change the world with an image. That is why a personal artwork is all about the meaning for me.”





Eduard Caliman
Eduard Caliman is a 3D Visual Artist based in Leeds, UK. He is 28 years old and has been in the industry since its beginnings when it took off. His studies involved something completely different from visual arts – he studied Economics – but has always been into graphics. He would often learn in his spare time about various software and saw what could be achieved with the tools available at the time.
The passion for graphics in general started when he was 14 but he began working professionally at studios in Italy when he was 19.
He is currently owner at Eduard Caliman Visualization in Leeds, United Kingdom.
About Eduard Caliman Visualization: It’s a visualization studio passionate about creating aesthetic visuals of interiors, exteriors, product advertising, marketing, catalogues and yachts. They collaborate closely with interior designers, architects, creative agencies and product manufacturing companies to visualize their products, ideas and projects.
-
Mottos:
- “Driven by a passion for design, I strive to create visually striking images that are aesthetically pleasing and serve the purpose of my clients.”
- “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” George Bernard Shaw
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “I think the realization that you have created something aesthetically-pleasing gives you a hit of dopamine that gets you to continue creating.”





Jakub Čech
Jakub Čech is an award-winning, multi-disciplined CGI artist with more than ten years of experience. He is the CEO and Creative Director of his eponymous studio, and Creative Director at Mode Maison. Fusing art and technology to create inspired computer generated images, Jakub’s work is founded on the principle that CGI is an art tool.
Born and raised in a small Slovakian village, Jakub has been working with CGI tools since he was a teenager, and has always been fascinated by the intricacies of nature and the way light impacts an image.
His curiosity, innovation and artistic flair has led to collaborations with some of the world’s leading architects, designers and makers. With a deep technical knowledge of CGI, Jakub is highly respected in the industry and sought after as an educator and speaker.
-
Motto:
- “CGI is an artistic tool just like painting or sculpting is. Exploration of yourself reflected in images created with it makes for meaningful and beautiful work.”
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “Go and explore. Find your triggers, your inner feelings and use CGI only as a tool to express yourself. That’s what is always going to last and matter in the end.”





Mohit Sanchaniya
Mohit Sanchaniya is a 24 year-old Architectural Visualization Artist from Bengaluru, India. In 2017, he moved to Stockholm, Sweden to work for a studio called TMRW. In his portfolio, one can find images produced mostly for architecture. When he was in India, he was working as a freelancer for architects across India and international.
He has come quite far in the archviz industry in the past few years, coming from a country which has very little exposure in visualization to working for a great company in Sweden. It took hard work, dedication and perseverance to become the artist he is today.
He has worked directly in all stages of a traditional 3d production pipeline. He is specialized in lighting, post production and photographic direction. With each visual he creates, he strives to combine his passion for computer generated imagery with the love for interior design, architecture and enjoy the process of modelling. He works with experimental CGI and design projects, which have an important role in his intellectual and conceptual development.
-
Motto:
- “For me, archviz is all about showcasing the architecture through an artistic masterpiece. Art is the most intense mode and form to bring out the true potential of your Imagination.”
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “With a strong sense of determination, you can become anything. I am just a self-taught CG Artist who has somehow made his way.”



Michela Tonelli
Michela Tonelli is an architect who graduated from the School of Architecture in Florence. In 2016, she founded MTSYS, a platform where education activities (courses, workshops and conferences) and image production converge. Since 2017, she is an official trainer of V-Ray for Cinema 4D.
She is also a Visiting Professor at the course of “Communication of the Design Project” at the School of Architecture of Florence and “Drawings Techniques and Technologies” at Istituto Europeo di Design IED of Florence.
About MTSYS:
Established in 2016, the studio has a strong experience in architectural field. MTSYS is a creative team that specialises on visualizing unbuilt architecture and providing an effective visual communication. The studio is based in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy.
-
Motto:
- “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “A project doesn’t exist without good communication.”





Raphael Rau
Raphael Rau is an artist who specializes in photorealistic physically based computer generated imagery and animation based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. His work ranges from art direction to creation of logo animations, packshots and CG shorts.
He currently works as a trainer / tutor and freelancer but he is also open to in-house work whenever available.
-
Motto:
- “Knowing the physics gave me a foundation. Seeing the World gave me Inspiration. Creating is about devotion, practice, understanding and experience. But mostly about observing. Thus before you can create, you have to first observe and understand. Through understanding, matter is given soul to inspire and thrive.”
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “What I took away from working on challenging projects is that if you try hard enough and keep on going, even if it might hurt, you will succeed. And even if it might not be a victory on all fronts, you will have still learned something valuable and useful.”





Dušan Vukčević
Dušan Vukčević is a self-taught 3D artist with over 15 years of experience in the CG industry. He specializes in architectural visualisations and animations. He collaborates with the world’s top creative studios, companies and individuals from his small office in a remote part of Slovenia.
His passion and obsession for design, detail and photorealism has driven him to create numerous personal projects, which brought him many awards and publications. He was selected as one of 3D Artist’s top 100 influential and talented artists in the world.
Motto:
“My passion for photo-realism, detail and design drives me to create. I focus on what excites me and I constantly push myself to evolve as an artist. I am rediscovering myself through creative freedom and through exploring my imagination.”
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
“You will come to a point when progress slows down, when things get tough. This is where many artists give up and this is where your opportunity is. This is when you should keep going, make that extra step, experiment, explore and gain edge over everybody else.”





With valuable articles and contributions from:
Jeff Mottle
Jeff Mottle is the CEO and founder of the leading online magazine for the architectural computer graphics industry – CGarchitect. He has been working in the architectural visualization field since 1996. His roles have ranged from production visualization artist and technical director to business development and CEO. He is an editorialist, frequently performs market research and analysis for some of the top companies in the field and regularly speaks at events around the globe.
Jeff is a published author and an expert in color management and has written articles for many of the industry’s top publications including quotes in Business week. He frequently acts as an expert judge in industry competitions and publications.
In 2018, Jeff was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society for Architectural Illustrators (ASAI) in appreciation of outstanding leadership, commitment and contributions to the advancement of the profession of architectural illustration. In 2012, Jeff was also awarded the Joe Greco Community Award, the CAD Society’s Top honor, for his tireless determination in building an independent online user community serving those in visualization and influencing industry direction.
Much of his career has been spent evangelizing the architectural visualization and design field. He regularly runs industry competitions and awards, including CGarchitect’s yearly Architectural Visualization competition and 3D Awards.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
<>“This book serves as a time capsule of knowledge, artistry and inspiration for generations to come.”
Ciro Sannino





V-Ray Mentor and Official Chaos Group Certified Instructor, Ciro Sannino is the inventor of the 5SRW method and author of two industry books. He has been dealing with rendering since 1997. Throughout the years, he has applied his passion for photography and rendering to create a progressive teaching method that adheres to the standards of professional render production, enriched by the culture and classic techniques of photography, with a special focus on lighting.
He is the author of the books Photography & Rendering with V-Ray and, more recently, Chiaroscuro with V-Ray, published by GC Edizioni. Ciro personally oversees the creation of lessons on the platform and every year he takes part in various industry conferences, where he presents new ideas on photographic art applied to Architectural Visualization.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “While 3D models, textures, and shaders are replicas of objective reality, lighting is an art that involves creativity, emotion, and the merging of various aspects.”
Jason Bergeron





Jason founded beamvisual.com in 2009 after a few years working as an architect and 3d artist for offices in New York City and Vienna.
He graduated from the University of Arkansas, School of Architecture in 1999 after winning the Pella Design Prize for most outstanding final year project. After 4 years working as an architect in New York City, he successfully passed the architecture licensing exams to become a licensed U.S. Architect. Eventually taking up residence in Vienna, Austria, he fell in love with 3D visualization and started beamvisual.com after working in various architecture offices.
Jason is also the co-founder of BüroWHAT and the D2 Conferences with Fabio Palvelli and Christian Kobierski. The D2 Conference is a yearly architectural visualization conference held in Vienna and has grown to be the largest conference of its kind in the world.
One of his biggest passions is speaking with the larger architectural visualization community. Therefore, when he is not working on client projects, you will most likely find him travelling to other conferences around the world to meet people and advocate for the arch-viz community.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “All of these experiences have left me with one overarching feeling – the community we belong to is one of the best in the world. Great Talks about Photo Realism is a microcosm of this very theme.”
Jeff Mottle
Jeff Mottle is the CEO and founder of the leading online magazine for the architectural computer graphics industry – CGarchitect. He has been working in the architectural visualization field since 1996. His roles have ranged from production visualization artist and technical director to business development and CEO. He is an editorialist, frequently performs market research and analysis for some of the top companies in the field and regularly speaks at events around the globe.
Jeff is a published author and an expert in color management and has written articles for many of the industry’s top publications including quotes in Business week. He frequently acts as an expert judge in industry competitions and publications.
In 2018, Jeff was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society for Architectural Illustrators (ASAI) in appreciation of outstanding leadership, commitment and contributions to the advancement of the profession of architectural illustration. In 2012, Jeff was also awarded the Joe Greco Community Award, the CAD Society’s Top honor, for his tireless determination in building an independent online user community serving those in visualization and influencing industry direction.
Much of his career has been spent evangelizing the architectural visualization and design field. He regularly runs industry competitions and awards, including CGarchitect’s yearly Architectural Visualization competition and 3D Awards.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “This book serves as a time capsule of knowledge, artistry and inspiration for generations to come.”
Ciro Sannino
V-Ray Mentor and Official Chaos Group Certified Instructor, Ciro Sannino is the inventor of the 5SRW method and author of two industry books. He has been dealing with rendering since 1997. Throughout the years, he has applied his passion for photography and rendering to create a progressive teaching method that adheres to the standards of professional render production, enriched by the culture and classic techniques of photography, with a special focus on lighting.
He is the author of the books Photography & Rendering with V-Ray and, more recently, Chiaroscuro with V-Ray, published by GC Edizioni. Ciro personally oversees the creation of lessons on the platform and every year he takes part in various industry conferences, where he presents new ideas on photographic art applied to Architectural Visualization.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “While 3D models, textures, and shaders are replicas of objective reality, lighting is an art that involves creativity, emotion, and the merging of various aspects.”





Jason Bergeron
Jason founded beamvisual.com in 2009 after a few years working as an architect and 3d artist for offices in New York City and Vienna.
He graduated from the University of Arkansas, School of Architecture in 1999 after winning the Pella Design Prize for most outstanding final year project. After 4 years working as an architect in New York City, he successfully passed the architecture licensing exams to become a licensed U.S. Architect. Eventually taking up residence in Vienna, Austria, he fell in love with 3D visualization and started beamvisual.com after working in various architecture offices.
Jason is also the co-founder of BüroWHAT and the D2 Conferences with Fabio Palvelli and Christian Kobierski. The D2 Conference is a yearly architectural visualization conference held in Vienna and has grown to be the largest conference of its kind in the world.
One of his biggest passions is speaking with the larger architectural visualization community. Therefore, when he is not working on client projects, you will most likely find him travelling to other conferences around the world to meet people and advocate for the arch-viz community.
-
Quote from Great Talks about Photo Realism:
- “All of these experiences have left me with one overarching feeling – the community we belong to is one of the best in the world. Great Talks about Photo Realism is a microcosm of this very theme.”




