Massimo Vitali

MASSIMO VITALI (Como, Italy, 1944).
"Vecchiano". Series "Landscape with figures", ca.2000.
Photograph.
Edition limited to 10 copies?
Measurements: 78 x 88 cm; 76 x 96 cm (frame).

Vitali began capturing panoramic views of sun-drenched beaches in his native Italy, immortalizing their crowds, architecture and natural beauty. He has since expanded his scope, photographing sunbathers in Turkey, Spain and other countries The beaches provide Vitali with a wide open space with which to experiment with composition and perspective. He uses a high vantage point to obtain a panoramic view, capturing details and patterns that emerge when observing large numbers of people from a distance. At the same time, it is a sociological study linked to the leisure of crowds.

Massimo Vitali is an Italian photographer based in Lucca. He studied photography at the London College of Printing. At the beginning, in the seventies, he worked as a photojournalist at the Report Agency, then as a film cameraman. In 1995 he began practicing Fine Art Photography, often on a four or five meter high podium and with large format film cameras to capture high resolution details in wide shots of places such as beaches, clubs and public spaces. His work has been exhibited at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, Colorado, the Fonds national d'art contemporain in Paris, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée National d'Art Moderne (France) in Paris, the Cartier Foundation in Paris, and the Museo Luigi Pecci in Prato, Italy.