FIT. Every size matters
The exhibition featuring the shots, emotions, and winners of the 2024 Sirmione Photography Award
FIT. EVERY SIZE MATTERS
Sirmione Photography Award Exhibition, 2024 Edition
Palazzo Callas Exhibitions,
July 19 – November 9, 2025
An exhibition that speaks to the body, image, and perception. FIT. Every size matters combines photography and social reflection, opening a critical perspective on how fashion and communication shape our relationship with size and ourselves.
Created with images from the 15th edition of the Sirmione Photography Award, the exhibition gives visual form to a persistently topical theme, using photography as a powerful tool for social communication.
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The size of images: body and awareness
The fashion industry plays a powerful role in shaping how we see our bodies. One of its most controversial tactics is vanity sizing—the deliberate reduction of clothing sizes to make consumers believe they are thinner than they actually are.
This strategy taps into our deep-rooted desire to meet the beauty ideals perpetuated by media and advertising, but the cost is high. By linking thinness to success, attractiveness, and happiness, advertising fuels an unhealthy obsession with weight and size. This can distort self-perception, damage self-esteem, and even contribute to eating disorders. The manipulation of size is more than a marketing trick—it’s a cultural problem. It’s time for greater awareness, accountability, and a shift in how we define beauty and worth.
Luisa Lavelli, Mayor of Sirmione, said:
“FIT addresses a timely and urgent issue with strength and sensitivity, inviting reflection on the relationship between image, body, and perception. The exhibition opens a dialogue that, starting with the language of photography, addresses a central issue in our daily lives. This is a valuable contribution that further enriches the Sirmione Photography Award and broadens its reach in terms of social communication.”
The setup
In FIT. Every size matters images of size XS are intentionally displayed smaller, while size XL takes center stage with a much larger visual presence. Unlike typical fashion norms, where smaller sizes are often glorified, here, size XL is celebrated for its bold, commanding impact, creating a deliberate inversion of the traditional value hierarchy—where ‘larger’ is now preferred over ‘smaller.’
The truth is, there are no “right” or “wrong” sizes when it comes to people or images. What truly matters is the artistic integrity—the composition, emotional resonance, and expressive power—of each photograph. These elements immediately demonstrate that true excellence transcends size. The equation that links value to greatness has been completely redefined.
Mariangela Gavioli, curator of the exhibition, explains the choice of layout:
“The walls of the rooms are decorated with photographs that literally follow the dimensions they represent: each wall features a mosaic of all sizes—XS, S, M, L, XL—in apparent randomness, where the XSs appear small and the XLs dominate the space with their monumental presence.
It is in the juxtaposition of all sizes that the unifying meaning of the work emerges: like a social body that finds balance only in the presence of each of its components, the installation becomes legible and complete only through the coexistence of each dimension. No single size could tell the story that emerges from their visual dialogue.
It is a deliberate visual short circuit that seeks to undermine the toxic equation between value and size. There are no right or wrong sizes, neither in art nor in life.”
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Sirmione: a holiday for all sizes
This same principle applies to the landscapes of Sirmione and Lake Garda: every corner, every perspective holds its own unique dignity and beauty, regardless of size or conventional aesthetic standards. Just as the exhibition’s images show us that no size is inherently “perfect,” the diverse
landscapes of the lake—from intimate villages to vast panoramic views—remind us that true beauty lies in embracing diversity and accepting all forms, big or small.
“Just as there’s no perfect size, there’s no single way to experience a destination,” comments Riccardo Genovesi, Councilor for Tourism. “In Sirmione, every holiday finds its perfect fit, a place capable of welcoming and reflecting different expectations, rhythms, and sensibilities, offering authentic and tailor-made experiences. The FIT exhibition also reminds us that beauty lies in variety, just as it does in the landscapes, atmospheres, and offerings that Sirmione has to offer.”
FIT. EVERY SIZE MATTERS
Sirmione Photography Prize Exhibition, 2024 Edition
Palazzo Callas Exhibitions,
July 19 – November 9, 2025
Opening Hours
July 19 – September 28:
Daily 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 4:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Friday and Saturday 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 4:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Closed on Mondays, except holidays
September 30 – November 9:
Daily 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Closed on Mondays, except holidays
Free admission
FIT. Every size matters: the poster, the press kit (in Italian only) and the colophon
Sirmione 10% Photo Marathon: the 4 photographs that complete the exhibition FIT • EVERY SIZE MATTERS
The Book of Fires: Visitor Comments on the Exhibition
The obsession with form. The article in the Corriere della Sera magazine (in Italian only)
There is no right or wrong size. The video of FIT • Every size matters
