The brilliant panoramas of Italian photographer Massimo Vitali have long captured our imagination. His ability to preserve the actions of masses in a frozen moment has led to his renown as a celebrated crowd photographer.
Click here to see more of Vitali's work
When, for W* 101, we wanted to pay tribute to Bar Basso, the nucleus of late night celebration during Salone, Vitali was the only man for the job. Similarly we called on him to capture the spirit of our 2008 Design Awards for W* 108. Each of his pictures tells the story perfectly, both as a whole, and in the sum of its multitude of details.
His latest project – a collaboration with British director Mike Figgis – explores these notions of stillness versus movement and whole versus detail, by pitching Vitali’s photographs of Rome’s Piazza di Spagna next to a grid of four films. Each of the films, directed by Figgis, follows one of the characters in the photographs, honing in on what happens after the picture has been taken.
The four girls are all played by the same actress, rising star Katie Saunders, each in a different guise that ranges from tramp to vamp. Over the course of the 17 minute films the four characters play out identical scenarios pertinent to their characters: listening to music, answering phones running hands through hair and so on.
As an installation the triptych of photograph-film-photograph is simple but mesmerising. Though we’re not so sure about the implied ‘message’ behind the films, (don’t judge a book by its cover - we’re all the same despite appearances) the highly stylised filming is intriguing. Looking at Vitali’s pictures you can’t help but feel the urge to unfreeze the static action and see what happens next, and this is precisely what Figgis has added to the mix.
INFORMATION
The installation is presented by agnès b. and is on show at Somerset House as part of the Film4 Summer Screen
Related articles
Massimo Vitali Q&A
- Event dates
- 31 July 2008 to 9 August 2008
