In contrast to their work, the reason that pushed the photography duo in the direction they followed was anything but surreal. It all started with the recession in 2008 and the subsequent collapse of the American Dream. Simply getting by in New York wasn’t enough for the Formentos and soon life found them travelling across the US in a 27-foot Airstream, in an attempt to capture this newly-found reality through photographing women they would meet along the way. The result of this five-month trip was Circumstance: America Down on Bruised Knees, the duo’s first conceptual series and big breakthrough.

The profound success of Circumstance gave birth to a coffee table book as well as several other projects including a collection of hyper-sexualised editorials under the title She Is Cuba, a pseudo-documentary style series showcasing an intimate look into Japanese tradition entitled The Japan Diaries, and finally, Strange Fascination, the couple’s most recent work and perhaps the darkest in nature, dealing with concepts associated with misfortune, tragedy and survival. 

With all that and so much more in the pipeline, it’s only a matter of time before Formento + Formento find their own little place amongst the pantheon of American visual artists such as the likes of David Lynch and Arthur Elgort. The ‘When’, we cannot know, but their restless spirit, cinematic sensibilities and unique aesthetic definitely answer the ‘How’.