Matteo de Mayda
Stories

The first time, Iceland
In summer 2018 Iceland became the smallest nation ever to participate in the FIFA World Cup. After taking part in the 2016 European Championships - and surprising everyone by making it into the quarter finals - Russia 2018 was another great occasion for the men’s team to shine. Iceland was thrilled. And when we say Iceland, we refer to about 330.000 people. Rather than focusing on the technical sides of the game, we told the Icelandic football story as a cultural phenomenon, with an angle that could appeal to sport fans but also to the general public, in Italy and worldwide.

Vo’, a community gets tested
Vo’ is a small town in Veneto, Northern Italy, in which the first European victim of COVID-19 was registered in February 2020. By testing all its inhabitants early on, it has managed to stop the contagion and has now become a living laboratory to study the Coronavirus.

It Was Sea
During the night between 12 and 13 November 2019 Venice faced one of the most serious emergencies ever experienced. The high tide reached 187 centimeters, making it the second highest ever after the famous “Acqua Granda” of 1966. More than 85% of the city was submerged and the estimated cost for Venice was €1bn. According to a large study by the American non-profit organization Climate Central, Venice will end up underwater by 2050.
Portfolio

Matteo de Mayda (Treviso, 1984) is a Venice-based photographer represented by Contrasto, focused on reportage and social and environmental causes. His visual research focuses on documentary photography and portraits, focused on reportage and social and environmental causes. He participated in several exhibitions, including at United Nations (Geneva, Switzerland, 2013) at Venice Biennale of Architecture (Venice, Italy, 2016) and Head On Photo Festival (Sidney, Australia, 2020). In 2019 he published “Era Mare”, a book about the high water in Venice, whose proceeds went totally to the shopkeepers who needed help. Awarded among the winners of the “REFOCUS” call by MIBACT – Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities for his work on Covid-19. He was selected by ARTRIBUNE magazine as the best young Italian photographer of 2020 and in 2021 he was selected among the emerging authors of the European Union’s “Futures Photography” program.
Venice, Italy
More info
Books
Era Mare. bruno. 2019
Awards
2021. FUTURES 2021 talent
2020. Best young photographer of the year, according to Artribune
2020. Winner of REFOCUS award by MiBACT with La Triennale di Milano and MUFOCO
2020. Finalist at the Head On Photo Awards
2020. Winner at Inner Outlook
2019. Finalist at the National Geographic Prize (Cortona on the Move Festival)
2008 and 2014. First prize at the Bevilacqua La Masa
Exhibitions & Screenings
2021. MUFOCO, Milan (Italy)
2021. La Triennale, Milan (Italy)
2020. Lector in Fabula, Conversano (Italy)
2020. Photobook Week Aarhus (Denmark)
2020. Fotobok Festival, Oslo (Norway)
2020. Head On Photo Festival, Sydney (Australia)
2019-2020- The Gallery by Generali, Milan (Italy)
2019. La Fabbrica dello Zucchero, Rovigo (Italy)
2017. Gwangju Biennale (South Korea)
2017. Palazzo Santa Chiara, Rome (Italy)
2016. 15th Architecture Biennale, Venice (Italy)
2015. Museo dell’Università la Sapienza, Roma (Italy)
2014-2015. Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice (Italy)
2014. URP, Turin (Italy)
2014. National Architecture/Design Centre (Sweden)
2013. United Nations, Geneva (Switzerland)