Fallai's favorite photo book, Almost One Year, has very little to do with fashion.

Fallai says he doesn't know how many stars of the fashion world he has worked with, or how many Vogue covers he can claim. Maybe he was never counting.

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But the prolific and energetic photographer does have a favorite: Almost One Year, a photo book that has very little to do with fashion, something he created with complete freedom. A volume of photos "taken in moments of inspiration" throughout the year of 1992 during his world tour, the book is described, by the late Italian art historian Federico Zeri, as "a diary by a great artist of the camera, a journal written not in pen and ink ..."

The "lucky accident" when Fallai met Giorgio Armani led Fallai to become one of the world's most celebrated fashion photographers. Photos Provided to China Daily

One distinction of the book is the photographer's sensual portrayal of men and women, reminiscent of those muscular, well-proportioned bodies of the Greek and Roman sculptures, thanks to his adept use of light, shadow and details.

Born long before Photoshop was invented and a master of light and shadow, Fallai states that he barely uses "the thing" not only because there are the risks of "having the same picture all around" and "the embellished products becoming the taste of the mass". But he also says Photoshop is a tool only for someone who used the wrong light, or making people look different than they really are. Making a fat person look thinner is not his game. "There is no ugly people in the world," he says.

The Florence-based photographer believes his aestheticism is "born in the blood of an Italian", and should never be exhausted. "In Florence, the center (of art), every morning I see is the door, the palace, the 40 percent of world art heritage," as he puts it.

"And the Forbidden City," he adds abruptly on his list of inspirations.

The globe-trotter recalls seeing the "one of the most beautiful things on earth" at his first visit to China four or five years ago, on a day that was -28 C.

The frozen weather and long hours of flight, however, didn't stop him from taking a look at a complex "that was built all for one person, the emperor".

"Even being so tired and cold, I remembered the strong emotion brought up," he says, calling himself an ardent lover of Chinese culture. He's a huge fan of the latest Oscar-winning director, Taiwan-born American Ang Lee, and his martial-arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Any Chinese faces he would like to shoot? The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon actress, Zhang Ziyi, though he cannot conjure up her name.

"My dream," says Fallai, in English, over his Italian-English translator.

Contact the writer at xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn.