In The Studio: Luigi Ontani, artist: 'My photographs are not documents – they're not simulacra, they're imaginary, by Karen Wright'

Luigi Ontani has only just moved into his studio near the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, but already it bears the mark of this inimitable artist, the doorbell highlighted by a tiny portrait of himself as Pinocchio. Called maestro by those who know and revere him, Ontani is an Italian treasure and is unmistakable, dressed today, as always, in a three-piece silk suit, this time the colour of spring greens.

Ontani, born in 1943 in a small town near Bologna, began his artistic career in Rome in 1970. The studio we are in belonged to Canova, the famous sculptor. Ontani recalls that he wa...