Pronti, Partenza, Punta! - Matteo de Mayda

The fourth appointment of Pronti, Partenza, Punta! features photographer Matteo de Mayda on Sunday 18 October at 9.30 am.

Pronti, Partenza, Punta! is the new photography project by Palazzo Grassi that brings together a group of professional photographers active in Venice, inviting the public to rediscover the city starting from its heart: Punta della Dogana.

Located at the center of the San Marco basin, Punta della Dogana is one of Venice’s most iconic sites, a symbol of its history, a meeting point of different cultures, and a space in constant dialogue between past and present.

Participants are invited to observe the city from a new perspective. The sessions take place on the museum’s terraces, in an exclusive moment thirty minutes before opening to the public.

Each meeting includes a dedicated moment of discussion and photographic practice with selected photographers, who share their vision of the city, offering insights, suggestions, and small “secrets” for interpreting Venice according to one’s own sensibility.

At the end of each session, participants are invited to experiment in the city, to “point” their lens toward Punta della Dogana from wherever they are, and to share their shots with Palazzo Grassi. A selection of the images will be published on the museum’s social channels.

The ticket includes:
A 30-minute meeting with the photographer, in a closed museum setting, on the terraces of the Punta della Dogana viewpoint, exclusively opened for the group
An entry ticket valid for visiting the exhibitions at Punta della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi

Matteo de Mayda (born 1984 in Treviso) is a visual artist based in Venice. His practice focuses on socio-environmental themes through a formal and objective visual language, engaging with archival materials and scientific approaches. He has exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, MUFOCO, the Milan Triennale, CAMERA Torino, Fotografia Europea and the Design Museum in London.
In 2019, he published Era Mare (ed. bruno), a book dedicated to high water in Venice. In 2020, he was selected by ARTRIBUNE as Best Young Italian Photographer of the Year, and in 2021 he was among the FUTURES talents selected by CAMERA and received the Italian Sustainability Photo Award. In 2022, he won the British Journal of Photography International Award. In 2023, he was among the winners of Strategia Fotografia with Una Barena Intera, developed in collaboration with CAMERA and the Alinari Foundation. In 2024, he published There’s No Calm After the Storm (ed. bruno), which received the Gabriele Basilico Prize in 2025, and *Brilla Sempre* (ed. Witty Books), dedicated to the memory of his mother. In 2026, he presented Laguna minore at Cortona On The Move and published Lagoonal Capriccio (Witty Books), both dedicated to the Venetian Lagoon as an ecological and political landscape.
His work has appeared in The New York Times, Financial Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Internazionale, M Le Monde and Vogue.