Son of an American father and Italian mother both in the military, Fidel was born in South Korea, spent his early years in LA, Kansas and Georgia, his elementary years in Germany, and his middle school years in Italy. He finished high school in Kansas, where he later attended college at Kansas State University.
In 2001 he moved to NYC to pursue acting, writing and every other form of βthe Artsβ he could get his hands on. Along with the hunger for all things artistic came the desire to make photography a major part of his life. Although it had been a hobby of his most of his life, in New York it became a true passion. In 2006 he officially made it his profession, and since then he has worked as a freelance photographer for numerous fashion brands, magazines, sports organizations, humanitarian organizations and private clients.
In 2014, after completing a photoshoot for a client in Paris, he began feeling the desire to broaden his horizons and look for work outside of the United States. Like many photographers, he had always worked a second job. During his years in New York, this had been Event Coordinating and Restaurant Management. Although he was good at and enjoyed the hospitality field, he was hungry to find work centered around his true passion, photography.
In 2015 he was offered a teaching position in Italy. He took it, ready to face new challenges in a different part of the world. Being the son of an Italian citizen, and having spent a number of years in Italy during his youth, he was familiar with its language and customs.
For several years he worked as a photography professor for the University Studies Abroad Consortium at I.U.S.V.E. University in Verona, as well as an English professor for the Moodart school of fashion. On occasion he also taught as a substitute for a few of the local high schools.
In 2021, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, with schools closing and his workload dropping by about 75%, he entered the NFT space, and found it to be not only a welcome outlet for his photography, but a much needed source of income as well. Unexpectedly, he found a share of success in web3, and has been able to travel, speak at conferences and have his work shown in numerous galleries and exhibitions around the world. As Covid had slowly but surely taken away his positions in teaching, he made web3 his full-time commitment, even taking a position as the Head of Community for PictureThis in 2022.
In his free time, he’s able to take on freelance jobs for private clients both in Europe and abroad, as well as create his own photography, produce multimedia projects, curate for galleries and other artists in the space, and host his IRL community event, BrunchByFidel.
