When everything seems to have been said and done as far as interior photography is
considered, Massimo Listri reminds us that everything is a question of perspective where even
the most over used thematic can acquire a new dimension when approached from the right
vantage point. Massimo Listri’s career has spanned 30 years and although he has experimented
with everything, he is famous for his interior photographs. Listri first discovered his
passion for photography at the age of 16, motivated by the books and magazines that his
father, a journalist and literary critic, used to receive at the family home. Having access
to the latest materials, as he says, gave him the opportunity to discover the world of arts
and photography and literally fall in love. Since then he hasn’t stopped taking photos,
having shown his work from London and New York to Milan, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
What makes his work unique is how he has made interiors look so absolutely vivid, as if they
had a secret life of their own that only he knows how to portray. Listri has the
extraordinary ability to capture all the small details that make the difference and reveal
all the stories that remain hidden behind the surface. When asked about his distinctive
approach, he reveals: ''It is purely a question of sensibility. The secret is in the light
which highlights the details. That’s why I definitely prefer to use natural light when
possible''. Listri’s photos transmit an almost deafening silence, as if time had stopped
and humans had suddenly disappeared and the only thing reminiscent of them are the interiors
they’ve left behind, the remains of their lives and their passions, their art and their
culture. It comes of no surprise that his interiors have gained him a lot of fame and many
people have honored him with their trust, giving him the privilege of photographing unique
and restricted places, including among others the Vatican Museum in Rome and Palazzo Pitti in
Florence. Massimo Listri comments on this:
>> My photography is an expression of tranquility and silence in this chaotic society -a
sense of perspective and equilibrium. This is therapy for the soul. Every time I take a photo
is like the first time a treasure is revealed, a first emotion, be it an empty room or the
greatest treasures of the Vatican. <<
When asked about what is more important to him, the technique or the intuition, Listri points
out: ''Intuition is something you cannot learn, it is your emotions, the way you look at your
subject. Technique is just a tool which we all have to learn at the beginning of our
career''. As far as the most important influences in his work are concerned, he declares,
without second thought, his love for the masters of painting Piero della Francesca and
Vermeer. Listri believes that there are no secrets in photography and, in this sense, there
are no specific things one must have in mind when photographing interiors. ''Proust wrote
that acts of creativity do not have laws of precedence. It is an instinct, a great, obscure
and incomprehensible power that can never be repeated. Each occasion, each photo is just
unique''. As for his future plans, Listri points out: ''My future is what is unknown to me.
The only thing I am sure of is that discovery will continue being a great element in my
work''.
Listri recently inaugurated his first show in Latin America, in the Museum of Modern Art of
Bogota. For this show, which is a ‘not to miss opportunity’ for the Latin American audience
to get in touch with his work, Listri chose 45 photographs from his repertoire, focusing on
palaces and libraries. In a celebration of Massimo Listri’s extraordinary career, we leave
you with a wide selection of his work, hoping that you will fall in love with his spatial
elegies just like we did!
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