Massimo Vitali  is worldwide distinguished Italian photographer best known for his large-scale color images of beaches and mass leisure events. Shot from a distance, his panoramic views show people interacting with their environments and one another, lending a sense of voyeurism to the work. These scenes of pools, ski resorts, discotheques, piazzas, and other tourist and leisure sites around the world can be found in Vitali’s photobooks Landscapes with Figures (2004) and Natural Habitats (2010).   “My photography comes from absolute matter-of-fact situations but also from a deep curiosity that I possess for people, for what they do and how they think"

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Born in 1944 in Como,

he studied photography at the London College of Printing.

He initially worked as a photojournalist for the Report Agency

in the 1970s, and later as a movie camera operator.

In 1995 he took on fine art photography, often standing on a podium four or five meters high, and using large-format film cameras to capture high-resolution details over a broad expanse

in locations such as beaches, clubs and public spaces.

Over the past 12 years he has developed a new approach to portraying the world, illuminating the apotheosis of the Herd, expressing and commenting through the most intriguing, palpable forms of contemporary art – Photography

 

 

Permanent Collections

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Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York

Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid

Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver

Fond National Art Contemporaine in Paris

Centre Pompidou in Paris

Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris

Fondation Cartier in Paris

Museo Luigi Pecci in Prato

Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, among other institutions.