Q: Misa, what do you mean when you say your photography is “CORTÈSE”?
A: It means gentle, but not weak.
Sharp, but never violent.
Direct, but always respectful.
CORTÈSE is how I enter a person’s presence without breaking it.
In a world where photography has become either aggressive or artificial, I had to define my own terrain, a place where truth can emerge without force.
So I call my photography CORTÈSE.
It’s an old word.
Italian.
Soft on the tongue, firm in meaning.
It doesn’t translate well, because English lost the nuance:
gentle but sovereign, elegant but incisive, polite without being submissive.
For me, CORTÈSE is not a style.
It’s a discipline.
CORTÈSE Means: I Do Not Invade
I don’t attack the moment.
I don’t steal images.
I don’t treat the person as material.
CORTÈSE means I step into someone’s truth with care, the way you touch a fragile object, not because it will break, but because it deserves respect.
CORTÈSE Means: I Do Not Decorate
There is no flattery in my lens.
No cosmetic kindness.
No softening of the story.
My gentleness has nothing to do with smoothing edges.
It’s the gentleness of presence, not of Photoshop.
When someone stands in front of my camera,
I don’t try to make them look “better.”
I try to make them look real, and that is the highest form of elegance.
CORTÈSE Means: I Do Not Dominate
The photographer has power, not because he holds a camera, but because he decides when the truth appears.
But power without courtesy becomes violence.
So I meet the person as an equal.
I don’t direct.
I don’t instruct.
I don’t sculpt their emotion like clay.
I wait.
I watch.
I listen.
Then I write with light the moment they give me, not the one I extract from them.
CORTÈSE Means: Precision Without Brutality
There is a misconception that honesty must be harsh.
That truth must wound.
That the real self only appears when the ego is crushed.
That’s not my world.
I can be sharp without cutting.
I can be honest without humiliating.
I can be demanding without dominating.
To be CORTÈSE is to approach a person with clarity and care at the same time, two qualities modern photography separated a long time ago.
CORTÈSE Means: The Image Serves the Person, Not the Photographer
I don’t chase my signature.
I don’t need to impress other photographers.
I don’t care about the applause of the algorithm.
My work exists so the person can recognize themselves, sometimes painfully, sometimes gracefully, but always truthfully.
CORTÈSE is the posture that protects that encounter.
Why It Matters Now
We are drowning in images made with arrogance:
images that scream,
images that seduce,
images that assault the eye.
What we lack is courtesy, in how we look at one another and in how we let ourselves be seen.
CORTÈSE is my refusal to contribute to photographic violence.
It is my commitment to truth delivered with dignity.
Not loud, not aggressive, not performative, simply human.
Final Reflection
To photograph someone is to enter their fragile territory.
To be CORTÈSE is to enter without conquering.
To see without invading.
To reveal without destroying.
And if there is elegance left in this world, it lives in that kind of honesty.
