Leporello 2020
No Country for Old Men
Massimo Vitali’s Leporello is an accordion-style publication consisting of a selection of 16 photographs taken on Italian beaches in the summer of 2020. After the first lockdown due to Covid-19, Vitali was drawn by the curiosity to study the behavior of his fellow countrymen, as if to see if anything had really changed…
“I know that 2020 has been quite catastrophic till now. However, I always try to be positive and productive, to figure out what I can do as a photographer in order to capture the present for the upcoming generations.”
2020 will certainly go down in history.
Massimo Vitali has never been drawn to emptiness, and deserted cities hold little interest for him. But following the spring lockdown, as soon as it was possible to leave the house in Italy and travel outside one’s own town, people began to return to the beaches. And Vitali was there, ready to capture the Italians during their moments of relaxation and leisure, as if to ask himself if they had really changed.
After the first month of freedom, in which a certain distance was evident and time seemed as if suspended, the summer weekends of July and August did not appear to be very different from those of previous years.
A selection of 16 photos taken in this strange period have become a work of art (or an art object), an accordion-style publication, a leporello in short.
Leporello 2020. No country for old men is Massimo Vitali’s new project, which can be viewed as a book or as a circular and continuous exhibition, passing from photo to photo.
Here is a tutorial on how to open the Leporello so that you can fold it back up correctly!
The word “leporello” comes from the name of Don Giovanni’s servant, who kept a list of all the names of Don Giovanni’s amorous adventures – the name became the word for any type of accordion fold book.
Every large format Leporello 2020 comes with a miniature version called the “Lepopocket”. If you’re going out and you don’t really want to part with your “Leporello”, you can always bring the “Lepopocket” with you!
Limited edition of 200 copies + 50 AP, printed on Fedrigoni Tatami White 250gr, sold by Studio Massimo Vitali for € 500 + 4% VAT (where applicable), and shipping costs.
