©Massimo Vitali
Summer is now truly upon us; people are starting to flock to the beach, offering up their bodies to sun worship and self abandonment, and the Italian photographer Massimo Vitali evokes the great times that lie ahead with his beach scenes currently on display at Galeria Senda. Within his huge panoramas, masses of people crammed into public spaces have been frozen in time as they try to relax, play or pursue other idle leisure activities. What is truly remarkable about these images is not only the tremendous sense of scale or peculiar use of perspective, but moreover the way in which the camera´s crisp clarity renders crowds of tourists with such exacting detail that every person is like a single candid portrait. Viewing these mural size prints, our eyes move in and shift from one figure to the next, prowling photographs that bustles with life and action, their visual volume almost overwhelming. There is so much happening here, yet at the same time nothing is really going on at all; perhaps this is what is most captivating about Massimo Vitali´s work. The hundreds of mini stories being played out in the images arouse our curiosity; our minds have to inhabit the place with our own imagined narratives in an attempt to explain these random little moments. In the tradition typical of the gifted photographer, Massimo Vitali is able to capture scenes banal enough for us all to recognise while imparting his oblique vision through the very special qualities of his photographic imagery.
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Massimo Vitali
Galeria Senda
Until June 28th
www.galeriasenda.com
