Stefano Schirato was born in Bologna in 1974, it is graduated in Political Sciences.
Since 1997 he has worked as a photographer, dealing in particular with social themes.
After several reportages, that have touched themes as the condition of the street children living in the sewers of Bucharest, or as the situation of the black ghettos in the townships of Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, he won a scholarship to take part in a course with the National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry.
In 1999, together with the Non-Governmental Organization New Humanity and in support of Emergency, he proposed to witness the drama of the anti-man landmines in Cambodia.
This same work gave birth to his first book, âGli occhi della Cambogiaâ, with a preface by Ferdinando Scianna.
From 2000 he dedicated himself to a long work on seized ships which was to take him, over the next two years, to various ports in order to document the life of the maritime prisoners on board.
In 2002 he met the Oscar-winning film director Giuseppe Tornatore, who examined his images and encouraged their publication.
The same year, the publisher Silvana Editoriale issued his work in a book entitled "Ne' in terra, ne' in mare" with an essay by Tornatore.
From 2003 he devotes his work to the portrait of characters of cinema, literature, theatre, music, and he attends the set of the films 'Peperoni ripieni e pesci in faccia' by Lina Wertmuller and 'La sconosciuta' by Giuseppe Tornatore.
His works have appeared on Venerdi' di Repubblica, Famiglia Cristiana, Il Manifesto.
His photographs have been exhibited in Italy and abroad. Since 2006 he has been a member of the agency SUDEST 57