Michael Massaia (1978) is an American fine art Photographer and Printmaker who has spent the past fourteen years documenting areas and objects that never extend to far from his front door. Isolation, disconnection, and an attempt to put a spotlight on the ordinary are the constant in all of his work. He focuses, primarily, on large format, black and white film, utilizing a variety of highly modified proprietary analog and digital printing techniques. Michael works alone and is the sole craftsman from the instant the negative is exposed to the moment the final print is made.
An insomniac, Massaia began taking large-format photographs on long, nighttime walks around his native New Jersey and became fascinated by the ghostly quality of metropolitan spaces devoid of people, leading him to build up a body of work that explores public places at night, as their patrons sleep. In his “Deep in a Dream” series, Massaia turned his lens toward the typically bustling Central Park in a state of early morning repose. “Capturing the park between the hours of 2am and 6am was my attempt to capture the city in its most haunting, desolate, and inviting moments,” Massaia says.
© 2018. All images are copyrighted © by Michael Massaia. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained.
An insomniac, Massaia began taking large-format photographs on long, nighttime walks around his native New Jersey and became fascinated by the ghostly quality of metropolitan spaces devoid of people, leading him to build up a body of work that explores public places at night, as their patrons sleep. In his “Deep in a Dream” series, Massaia turned his lens toward the typically bustling Central Park in a state of early morning repose. “Capturing the park between the hours of 2am and 6am was my attempt to capture the city in its most haunting, desolate, and inviting moments,” Massaia says.
© 2018. All images are copyrighted © by Michael Massaia. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained.
Deep In A Dream - Central Park - 2008-2018
"I started documenting Central Park back in 2007 as way of coping with severe insomnia.
I would commonly take long walks at night, and the park always seemed to be calling me in. I set out to document the park at its most vacant, isolating, and at times, haunting moments. The park appears to go through a period of metamorphosis during those late night/early morning hours, and I was determined to capture it."
I would commonly take long walks at night, and the park always seemed to be calling me in. I set out to document the park at its most vacant, isolating, and at times, haunting moments. The park appears to go through a period of metamorphosis during those late night/early morning hours, and I was determined to capture it."
The Final Throes, 2011-2016
"Pre-demolished homes in New Jersey from the towns and areas I grew up in."
Grand Central Station At Closing, 2016
No Past, No Present, No Future
Over the past sixteen years I’ve spent the majority of my late nights and early mornings in Hotel Lobbies throughout Manhattan. Throughout those sleepless nights I was always taken by how that environment seemed to exist in a constant – no past, no present, no future state. When the guests retired I was left alone to experience the intimate nature of these places. This portfolio documents those long nights.
Afterlife - New Jersey Shore, 2008-2018
"In 2008, I started to document the amusement piers that skirt the New Jersey Coast Line during their most vacant moments (usually between the hours of 4 and 6am. The images were predominantly shot on the Funtown and Casino Piers in Seaside Park & Seaside Heights New Jersey. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy rolled in and completely destroyed both piers. The landscape was forever altered. These images chronicle the final days of these Piers, as well as what remained of the piers after the hurricane."
Chasing The Midnight Flyer
"On July 2nd, 1922, a horrific train derailment occurred at Winslow Junction in Winslow New Jersey. The derailment was given the name - "The Midnight Flyer". This portfolio was shot at that same junction in Winslow New Jersey in 2014 between 4 and 6 am"
It's In The Leaving, 2012-2017
"I started working on this series - "It's In The Leaving" of the last remaining Pay Phones in NYC in 2012. I felt the phones had an almost operatic/tragic stance to them. While almost none of these phones still function, there is subtle proof of life inside each one. They're main function now seem to act as totems pointing to less knowing, less connected, and perhaps, better times."
Quiet Now - 2012
"With Quiet Now I wanted to create a portfolio that paid homage to a part of my chilidhood that seems to be vanishing. When I was younger everyday could be filled with a certain amount of danger(it was completely up to you how dangerous).
Seeing The Black Dog, 2011-2016
"Seeing the black dog" is a saying truck drivers use to describe hallucinations that occur as a result of sleep deprivation during cross country runs. When they see the "black dogs" scampering across the highway they know to pull over and get some sleep. The moment they make that decision is when I sneek up to their trucks while they're in the cabs sleeping and capture the moment the dogs melt away. All of the images were taken between the hours of 2am and 6am along the New Jersey Turnpike."
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