For the third edition of the Portrait(s) Festival, Vichy is offering visitors a particularly audacious overview of the genre. From Richard Pak’s isolated, reframed and enlarged faces of crowds at rock concerts to the poetic moments of Mat Jacob, from the Galerie du Centre Culture Valery-Larbaud to the esplanade of Lake Allier, these different approaches testify to the many aspects of our world.
Canadian photographer Kourtney Roy is exhibiting her latest series, shot in California. Her reference-filled, efficient style confirms her rising status as a fashion photographer with an immediately recognizable approach.
We tend to overlook American color photographers who aren’t William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, people like Jacob Holdt. Portrait(s) is trying to make up for this with a look at the extraordinary work of Bruce Wrighton, who died in 1988 at the age of 38. His mastery of the 20×25 format, with highly saturated colors, reinvented street photography in Reagan-era America. It’s a must-see.
The astonishing travelogues shot by women and gathered by the Aurore association show how photography can give voice to individuals. Led by José Chidlovsky, with the participation of Sarah Moon and overseen by the Coeur de Femmes, Blandine, Bahia and other women took photographs of their daily lives. While W. Eugene Smith said that photography has a “little voice,” these works are like screams. The women use photography to piece themselves back together.
A festival wouldn’t be relevant without commission. Turkish photographer Yusuf Sevinçli grounds the citizens of Vichy in their relationship with their city, other people, and the world. As Diane Arbus wrote, “The more specific you are, the more general it will be.”
FESTIVAL
Portrait(s)
From June 20th to Sepember 6th, 2015
Centre Culturel Valery-Larbaud
20 rue du Maréchal Foch
03200 Vichy
France
Gratuit
http://www.ville-vichy.fr
