This is our Story
First off, you may wonder: why this strange name?
[ mæ:dis] = Lithuanian for “Tree.” We chose this word because our very first session was just nearby a magnificent old oak tree, which is the one that you can find in our logo. Also, we wanted to specialize in family photography, so we loved the idea of something that grows and has deep roots. Moreover, we didn’t care to call our website “florencefamilyphotographer.com” or “florencephotographers.com.” Even though that could be more successful on Google ranks, we still thought it’d sound too anonymous. And then, MeDisProject also contains both our first name initials (Matteo & Dovilė).
So, who are we? Let’s start from the very beginning!
Piazza Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy.
August 2009
“Lots of tourists and travelers were coming and going to the train station just around the corner.
It was late afternoon, and I was sitting in the square, taking photos of passers-by.”
– Matteo –
“I was walking with my friend, going towards the station when we noticed a guy who was taking a picture of us.
Here’s that picture (I’m the one on the left)”
– Dovilė –
“I love this picture. I think it’s something pretty rare for a man to have a photo, which is also his first look at the woman he loves.”
– Matteo –
“So that’s the first time we met. There was no time to linger, though, and we needed to catch the train. So we said goodbye and went to the station.”
– Dovilė –
“The train was very late (thank God, once in a lifetime!), so we decided to spend some more time sitting in the square, taking photos. There we met Matteo again, and after some chat, we exchanged our contacts.”
– Dovilė –
” Over the following weeks, we started writing each other long emails, and spending nights chatting on Skype, falling in love.
In October, I finally flew to Vilnius, Lithuania.”
– Matteo –
“Then, I went back to Italy…”
– Dovilė –
“And I went back to Lithuania.”
– Matteo –
“And once again…”
– Matteo –
“Until I finally moved to Florence and we started living and working together, right where everything began.”
– Dovilė –
And this is our wedding, here in Florence, on April 18th, 2015
Thank you Studio Bonon and Gabriele Fani for the hard work
and for your friendship
Our kids
In 2018, we welcomed our first son Umberto to this world. He was born one day after his dad and two days before his mom. So, we now have one more reason to celebrate our birthdays together. In 2021, Thea joined the family. Here we are, for the Season’s Greetings.
As photographers
So, now that you know a little more about us, we can tell you a few things as photographers. We both have a professional background in photojournalism at La Repubblica, where we worked for a couple of years. Then we both started collaborating with other photographers, especially in the wedding industry. As you know, Italy and Tuscany, in particular, have always been popular destinations. So we had the chance to shoot many elegant events all around our country.
The MeDisProject Story
In 2012 we finally started our family business and launched our website, focusing on Family and portrait photography. Throughout these years, we also developed our expertise planning and shooting Surprise marriage proposals and documenting extended family reunions.
In the time of Coronavirus
During the first months of the pandemic, we shot a Visual Diary for our son Umberto. He’s only two years old at the time, and we created the series so he would have something to remember the experience. Also, that was the chance for us to get acquainted with our neighbors and increase the sense of community around our building.
Our pandemic diary was also on display as part of the 2020 Storie Differenti festival, organized in Florence by Chille de la Balanza. Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, LRT, and The Florentine wrote about that. Moreover, some of these photos have been selected by ICP, Roma Fotografia, and Arcipelago19 for other exhibitions.
That’s the MeDisProject Story, so far
Are you traveling to Florence on vacation, in a couple, or with your family? Are you planning a surprise wedding proposal or your romantic wedding in Tuscany?
We’d love to talk with you about working together to create meaningful images that will inspire memories for years to come.
Tell us your story!
26 Comments
mOLTO CARINA UNA STORIA FRESCA…. ALL THE BEST…..
- Author
grazie Stefano, c’è voluto un anno a scriverla… è valso la pena aspettare 😉
Nuostabi istorija apie tai, kaip netiketai sutinki. daugiau tokiu!
- Author
Labai netikėtai, nors. buvo labai laukta. Tęsiam istoriją!
bellissima!! che cosa splendida! bravi bravi
- Author
grazie mille cara
Bellissima storia e il vostro lavoro è sempre stato magnifico.
- Author
grazie mille Silvia, volevamo condividerla nel modo migliore possibile
Davvero emozionante ragazzi grazie!
- Author
grazie a te per la visita e i complimenti, continua a seguirci!
Che bella storia, e belle foto! Bravi!!!
- Author
Grazie mille, davvero!
Love your website and your lovely story! ♡
- Author
thank you Merisa, soon you’ll be a part of this 😉
Bravi bravi!! mi piacciono le storie e questa è bella e ben raccontata! dolce.
Complimenti anche per il sito mi piace un monte! 😉- Author
grazie, grazie per tutto. la storia (e il sito) continua
Aaaah, what a lovely story for a lovely couple!
Thank goodness that train was late…..fate played her card in a similar way to Jaco & I meeting.
I love love… x
- Author
Thanks Lucy! That was a good delay! What happened to you??
Nice, I was simply “googling” for portrait photography, when this website name catched my eye. Good thinking! I love how you incorporated the first letters of your names and the lithuanian language into it.
- Author
Thanks Stasys, the idea came spontaneously watching our first engagement session, we liked how everything matched. Hope you liked the photos too!
meravigliosa! Ma possibile che ancora non l’avevo letta? Alla faccia di tutti gli “esperti” di storytelling 🙂 bravi!!
- Author
Grazie cara, nella prima versione del sito era un po’ più nascosta. Siamo un cantiere aperto 😉
So amazing. I’d like to have a story like that for my son, for my many life changes for my whole things… You did a great job!!! this will be such a good visual memory forever. Thanks for having shared it with me!
- Author
Thank you Francesca for your kind words, something good is on its way 😉
Io mi sono commossa…. Un fotofilm…
- Author
grazie Rossella, ci fa piacere!
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