Mattia De Benedictis is an artist part of our PhotoVogue Community. In this project he portrays skaters from Barcelona who have created a small community, shaping a new concept of “home” in public spaces where everyone is welcomed and supported.
"To live is to be everywhere at home," said Ugo La Pietra, an Italian architect and artist. From benches to empty swimming pools, from suburbs to underground parking lots, to seaside skateparks: appropriating the urban fabric is a way of living even more strongly.
The habitués of Marbella-Skatepark (BCN) seem like a perfect micro-community, where support and gratitude pervade every moment. A casual lightness is marked by the sound of wheels - as they ride the concrete as if it were a wall of water - by the tricks and crumpled cans.
Every movement on or off the board is essential to understand its meaning: it is a rite of passage marked by dusty hands and lost carefreeness. It is the subculture that becomes culture. It is fashion that stays outside while only the need to act, and a sunset, remain. It is self-realization.
As Iggy Pop said in "Success," “I m gonna go out on the street and do anything I want... Oh, shit!”
Mattia De Benedictis is an Italian photographer currently based in Milan and central Italy. He attended design school and enrolled in several photography classes with a strong focus on urban subcultures, portraiture, and fashion. His work often expresses the narrative of youth, identities, and nostalgic atmospheres—an intimate conversation between understanding and feeling, a continuous exploration to redefine a personal "horizon." He has collaborated with fashion brands, and his photographs have appeared in publications including Vogue Italia, L Officiel Hommes, and Sicky Mag.
Ig: @mattia_dbstudio Website: mdbstudio.net
Photographer: MATTIA DE BENEDICTIS @mattia_dbstudio mdbstudio.net
Text: GIORGIA ROSA @giorgiavskij
Illustration: SILVAN BORER @silvanborer
Location: MARBELLA SKATEPARK-BARCELLONA
Thanks to: @charlie00fox @skt_bronze @bby_shaarke @mailubaby @felipeemarulanda
