Born in Palermo in 1942, he studied architecture at the University of Palermo, during which time he developed his interest in photography. After a brief move to Rome, he moved to Milan in 1967, where he founded the studio where he lived and worked for eight years. His photographs appeared in some of Europe's most famous fashion magazines, particularly Vogue Italia, which led him to New York, where he settled in 1975. In the 1980s, in collaboration with John Casablancas and Monique Pillard, he played a decisive role in the development of the supermodel phenomenon. In 1995, he designed and founded Pier 59 Studios in New York, now recognised as one of the most important photography studios in the world. A pioneer of digital photography, in 1982 he published the first digitally produced fashion photograph in Vogue America.