Three different points of view, three big names of Italian landscape photography: Gabriele Basilico, Vincenzo Castella, Massimo Vitali.

Gabriele Basilico is one of the bigger names of landscape photography: his city portraits (Milan, but also Naples, Bayreuth, Istanbul…) and his participation in DATAR’s Photographic Mission in 1984, both have attracted international attention to his work. The photographs from Basilico, cold at first glance, unconcerned, as if they were the result of the work of an entomologist that studies specimens, actually have a deep human and emotional presence towards urban areas. The author considers the city as a creature that grows, changes, dies.

Vincenzo Castella, born in Naples, has a different approach. He prefers the exploration of those places he knows best: the city where he was born, or Milan, where he has been living for many years. From that point, he begins to explore Europe and the Mediterranean. In his work, color has an important role, as if it was part of the canvas of the landscape. Since the 1990s, he takes advantage of the enormous buildings as a compass that guides his way.

Massimo Vitali, contrary to his latter colleagues, seems to be in need of people: his photographs, taken from a 20-feet-high tower, set on stage the leisure places and holiday resorts, the places where the masses pile up today. His images, always in large formats, become almost a sociological treaty, where the depicted characters can be studied from up close, capturing their details, their expressions and their social rituals.

For all these reasons the exhibition in Verona is twofold interesting: to discover the works of three authors, and to understand that these three very different regards illustrate perfectly our everyday life.

Laura Incardona

Until April 23
Studio La Città
Lungadige Galtarossa 21
Verona