Massimo Vitali (born 1944) is an Italian photographer based in

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

Life and work

Vitali was born in

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

, Italy. He studied

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

at the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

. He initially worked as a

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

for the Report Agency in the 1970s, and later as a movie

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

. In 1995 he took on

fine art photography Fine-art photography is photography created in line with the vision of the photographer as artist, using photography as a medium for creative expression. The goal of fine-art photography is to express an idea, a message, or an emotion. This stand ...

, often standing on a

podium A podium (: podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of a ...

four or five meters high, and using large-format film cameras to capture

high-resolution Image resolution is the level of detail of an image. The term applies to digital images, film images, and other types of images. "Higher resolution" means more image detail. Image resolution can be measured in various ways. Resolution quantifies ...

details over a broad expanse in locations such as beaches, clubs and public spaces. His work has been shown in the

Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

in Madrid, the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: * The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ne ...

in New York City, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, the Fond National Art Contemporaine in Paris, the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in Paris, the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Fondation Cartier in Paris and the Museo Luigi Pecci in

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

Publications

*''So Now Then'' (

Ffotogallery Ffotogallery is the national development agency for photography in Wales. It was established in 1978 and since June 2019 has been based in Cathays, Cardiff. It also commissions touring exhibitions nationally and internationally. Its current dire ...

, 2006) *''Les plages du Var'' (Hotel des Arts, 2000) *''dormir/sleep'' (coromandel, 2000) *''Beach and Disco'' (

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher based in Göttingen, Germany. Founded in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl, it publishes photobooks. Overview The company was started by Gerhard Steidl.Bill Kouwenhoven, "Off to see the wizard", ''British Journa ...

, 2000) *''Landscapes with Figures'' (Steidl, 2004), *''Natural Habitats'' (Steidl, 2011)

Exhibitions

* Massimo Vitali, “Ti ho visto”, Mazzoleni Torino, Italy, 12 April 2022 - 30 June 2022

References

External links

Interviews

A conversation with Massimo Vitali by Joerg ColbergPhotographing People Once They've Left a Work State-of-Mind by Richard KernMassimo Vitali talks to Yatzer Despina PavlakiMassimo Vitali: mille piccole storie in uno scatto by Rino ScarcelliCorbis Interview: Massimo Vitali at 2011 LOOK3Audio interview with Vitali and pictures by Jim Casper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitali, Massimo 1944 births Living people Alumni of the London College of Printing Artists from Como Italian photojournalists Italian photographers Italian contemporary artists