Signed; Massimo Vitali - Natural habitats - 2010

An extremely rare copy of the 2010 first edition, exceptionally signed on the title page by Massimo Vitali (born 1944). Not to be confused with the 2011 reprint! 144 pages and 84 photographs, most published full-page, out of text, in large format. Yellow cloth binding with the title stamped in pale blue on the spine and illustrated dust jacket. In excellent condition, like new.

A superficial approach might consider Massimo Vitali exclusively a photographer of beaches, whereas his subject matter is much broader: after beginning his career as a photojournalist and cinematographer, from 1993 onward Massimo Vitali embarked on a kind of inventory of human behavior in public leisure spaces. Beaches, nightclubs, public gardens, and other popular entertainment or tourist spots became his favorite field of investigation. Through the use of a large-format camera, Vitali reinvents the pictorial genre of the “landscape with figures.”

In this volume, Massimo Vitali presents holidaymakers settling in undeveloped natural spaces by the sea or in the beds of rivers and streams. He also broadens his subject matter to include tourist sites such as the ruins of Matera in Italy or Ephesus in Lebanon, as well as the famous Spanish Steps in Rome and St. Mark’s Square in Venice.

Vitali’s photographs bring together the near and the far in a single frame, with figures captured in the immediacy of action or inaction, compelling the viewer/voyeur to look as closely as possible. These immense, vivid photographs, with their mass of people, resemble teeming images across which our eyes can wander, discovering details and new faces each time. (Galerie de Bellefeuille website, Montreal)

This volume of Natural Habitats presents Massimo Vitali’s complete photographic exploration from 2004 to 2009. This is the second volume of an imposing trilogy that began with Landscape with Figures, published in 2004, and continued through 2019 with the volume Entering a New World, also published in 2019 by Steidl.

A book from my personal collection, in excellent condition, like new; kept with the utmost care. Shipped very securely with international postal tracking guaranteed. For multiple purchases, combined shipping is possible, with any excess postage paid refunded via PayPal.

1.9 kg