Each competing photographer exhibits a photo during a free, open-air exhibition. The Mende Photo Festival will then take place from September 13 to 15, 2024.
Every year it is the prelude to the Mende Photo Festival: the open-air gallery has taken over the banks of the Lot, in Mende, between the Notre-Dame bridge and the Planche bridge.
This popular place for walkers, on foot or by bike, is ideal for offering an exhibition for all to see, free of charge. In giant format, eighteen photographs are presented, one per photographer participating in the Mende Photo Festival 2024 competition.
Nature, and nothing else
For this fourth edition, the principle is maintained. It’s about photographing nature without human traces: no construction, no lamppost, no road… Flora, fauna, everyone is free to choose their subject, their style and their technique.
This event has made its place in the industry: seventy photographers applied this year. Eighteen were therefore selected. After the overview given on the banks of the Lot, we will discover their work upstairs in the events space, from September 13 to 15. Visitors will also be able to chat with the photographers and vote for the series of photos they prefer. The event is sponsored by three professional photographers: Laurent Echenoz, Nicolas Orillard Demaire and Denis Palanque.
Exchanges and technique
In order to further develop exchanges, the festival is taking on a little more scale this year, and is also taking over the Urbain-V room. Films and documentaries will be broadcast on Saturday, accompanied by conferences. “It’s a nice proposition. During previous screenings, we had to turn away people; this time there will be more room. It’s an opportunity to talk about technique with the photographers who show their films, to get advice, to understand their approach“, summarizes the president of the festival Daniel Bonnet.
The event will also take over the square in front of the events area, with a gallery of thirty XXL photos, in partnership with the Cévennes National Park.
Visitors to the festival will, as in previous years, find the stands of partners, as well as artists, painters and creators, and will discover the work of students, residents of homes and retirement homes who have carried out projects during the year with the Mende Photo Festival. The photo rally is also being renewed, on the theme “A dominant color in nature”.
