Massimo Vitali's Leporello Captures Italy's Summer 2020

Italian photographer Massimo Vitali (Como, 1944) has released a limited-edition leporello book documenting Italian beaches during the summer of 2020, a period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The leporello, a concertina-folded book printed in 200 copies plus artist's proofs, presents Vitali's signature bird's-eye views of crowded beaches near Lucca, where he lives. Despite pandemic fears, Vitali continued his usual methodology without documentary intent, capturing scenes of normalcy. The work, titled "No Country for Old Men" (a reference to Cormac McCarthy and the Coen brothers), shows no trace of Covid-19, focusing instead on the cinematic, entomological observation of humanity. Published by Steidl, the leporello enhances the cinematic quality of Vitali's photography, inviting viewers into sequences of similar yet distinct worlds. Angela Madesani wrote the accompanying text for Artribune.