As my current artistic journey enters a new phase of profound international resonance, I feel the need to pause and look back. There is a thin line between talent and opportunity, and often that line is crossed thanks to someone else’s vision. For me, that someone was none other than Paul Godbold.
It all began years ago, quite unexpectedly. Following my early recognitions at the International Photography Awards (IPA), I was contacted by Paul, founder and editor of Luxurious Magazine, and a great enthusiast of art in all its forms. I still remember that email and our very first video call. Despite my recent awards at the time, I did not believe it possible that someone of his calibre would want to publish an interview about my work.
That interview was the first real door to open on the global stage, a door that, years later, I can certainly state was the true starting point of my artistic path. What began as a professional relationship evolved into a wonderful friendship and collaboration that defined my technical and conceptual authority. It is through the network and trust of Luxurious Magazine that partnerships with giants such as Hasselblad and Phase One were born, allowing me to participate in international events that shaped my way of interpreting photography.
However, my greatest debt to Paul is not linked to the past, but to my present. After the pandemic, I went through a long creative silence, a sort of voluntary exile. In late 2025, during a private video call with Paul, something happened. In that dialogue based on mutual respect and friendship, his words acted as a mirror. They reminded me of who I was and what my vision still had to say to the world. If today I have returned to manifest my creativity and art through photography, and if my work is once again present in the international market, it is thanks to the spark reignited during that conversation.
Gratitude is not merely an act of courtesy; it is an exercise in awareness. We cannot know where we are going if we forget where we come from and who believed in us when we were just starting our journey.
Paul Godbold was not just an editor, but a visionary mentor who saw the architecture of silence in my shadows even before I was fully aware of it myself. On the other hand, the world is full of excellent artists and individuals with special visions. Yet, an artist will never be recognized as such without the right stage on which to perform.
I offer my most sincere thanks to Paul. Not for the space granted in the pages of his magazine, but for having unconsciously reignited the flame of my art when it was at its weakest.
— Simone Zeffiro
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