Since its inauguration in 2011, the Planches Contact Festival has supported creation through a residency program. For this fifteenth edition, nine invited international photographers set up their cameras and films in Deauville, in exchange for the keys to the city. Encouraged to find new ways of looking, they present original projects, dealing with subjects of society, environment, identity and even memory.
Coco Amardeil, The Norman ABC
V for cow, C for camembert… Coco Amardeil took up the challenge launched by the Festival to invent a full second degree Norman alphabet book. A sunny and fun series intended to enrich children’s local culture and make older children smile.
Alessandro Calabrese, Ways of Looking
This year, it is Alessandro Calabrese’s turn to revisit the archives of the city’s museum collections. The Italian artist used collage and digital manipulation to illustrate “the act of seeing” on the Normandy racecourses. A creative exercise that makes you think.
Sara Imloul, The Memory of Water et The castle
For her series, Sara Imloul was inspired by a scientific theory according to which water has a memory. In order to show the continuity of his journey on memory, a previous autobiographical work is exhibited in parallel. Scenes whose delicacy and power grip you to your very core. One of our editorial team’s favorites!
Julien Mignot, Screen Time
The French photographer paid tribute to cinema lovers with a series that follows in the wake of his work, Present time. This time, Julien Mignont did not photograph Normandy landscapes for an entire day but spectators for the entire duration of a film with the aim of transcribing the range of emotions that cinema can generate.
Patricia Morosan, That Every Stone Is
Patricia Morosan focused her lens on the Vaches Noires cliffs, a geological site located along the Channel coast. A setting famous for its rock formations that “wind, water and time” end up revealing little by little. Silent witnesses to History that the artist highlights in a poetic way.
Richard Pak, The Island Thief
For his series, Richard Pak was inspired by the art historian Daniel Arasse who evokes in a work the fascination of a Flemish artist for an island, going as far as the desire to “cut out the work”. Playing the role of collector, Richard Pak took on the idea and photographed the Normandy islands to then better cut them out. On one side, the sea without its islands, on the other, the islands without their sea.
Bettina Pittaluga, In Bed with
In 2012, the photographer says she began unconscious work around the bed. “I didn’t realize how present he was (…) Then I realized that I needed this framework to reveal my subjects. » Arriving in Deauville, Bettina Pittaluga then invites herself into people’s privacy. A sensitive setting that moves us and paradoxically takes us on a journey. One of the favorites of The Eye of Photography.
Phillip Toledano, We Are at War et Another America
The American visual artist attacks the postulate according to which “AI could not provoke emotion”. For this, he took photographs using MidJourney which he presents as being taken from a Robert Capa film dating from the D-Day landings. The result is astonishing: the photos of soldiers terrified under machine-gun fire grab our guts and provoke the greatest empathy. It’s also one of our favorites in this rich edition.
Huang Xiaoliang, Once the madness is over
Huang Xiaoliang explores the contrast of Deauville at the height of the tourist season and the solitude that follows the rest of the year. Using video, photography and painting, the Chinese artist erases the silhouettes and contours of the world to immerse us in a state of contemplation. A way of illustrating the complex relationship between Man and his environment, in enigmatic scenes, on the edge of reality.
More information:
Festival Boards Contact
Deauville, France
From October 19, 2024 to January 5, 2025
