MASSIMO VITALI

Massimo Vitali was born in 1944 in Como, Italy. He started photographing beaches in 1994, first those near his Tuscan residence. He made regular observations there before extending his approach to other places in Italy, such as the leisure centres of Rimini, indoor swimming pools in Belgium or winter sports resorts in the Alps. The success that surrounds him is, no doubt, less due to the spectacular character of his large formats presenting real collections of human beings than to the anthropological density of the enterprise. He photographs urban beaches or more rarely wild ones. What he prefers is the interaction between the city and the leisure space that the beach represents.

In July 2011, Deauville offered him a choice ground with its beach, for its reputation, but also its cultural and social mix. His bias consisted in photographing from the sea, on a shooting stand that can reach seven meters.