Beach And Disco

This new series from Steidl is dedicated to keeping in print previously published books by important artists like Lucinda Devlin, Karl Lagerfeld, Gerard Malanga and Massimo Vitali - and at an affordable price.

Shooting from the elevated perspective of an eighteen-foot tripod or an observation deck, Massimo Vitali captures his fellow Italians in pursuit of pleasure -- at the disco and on the beach. His disco images are an intriguing mix, showing us the public displays of both the inhibited and those liberated by their anonymity withing a crowd, in his beach scenes, we are allowed to people-watch the people watchers, to voyeuristically scrutinize families and sunbathers -- the modern participants in an age-old leisure ritual. Our focus shifts between the whole of the crowd and specific individuals, creating an interesting dynamic of combined panoramic photography and portraiture. This book is Vitali's much-anticipated debut publication.

Massimo Vitali has taken photographs of his compatriots on beaches, in discos, at airport and in shopping centres. The result is a kaleidoscope of Italian realities.