As every year, “La Provence Sous Marine” has prepared its great exhibition of photographic and videographic works, which was to take place inside the walls of the Saint Louis cloister in Avignon. Obviously the exhibition of this year is cancelled; but, I did not resist my wish to show you some pictures which were programmed and which formed the final selection of the prestigious competition linked to this event.
The Association “La Provence Sous Marine” was directly born from the Photo Video group of the diving club “Les Dauphins d’Avignon” (around 200 members). This young association promotes and protects aquatic environments through photographic exhibitions, videographic screenings, conferences and guided exhibition tours that are suitable for all audiences from kindergarten to clubs of elders.
For this fifth edition, the works presented were pictures from the aquatic Provence (fresh or salty water without priority) with its views of bewitching beauty with no obligation to cross over to the end of the World to find this beauty.
Certainly, lot of technical complications in the use of photographic tools must necessarily be perfectly mastered by the authors. But, the underwater lighting effects bring to creators possibilities of expressions at the level of their personal commitment and the constraints of realisation.
The fact of entering another environment, in other dimensions (physical as well as imaginative), develops curiosity and wonder, which are two pillars of creation. Isolation, introspection and vital concentration do the last part. Have you noticed that all the underwater photographs realised by all these enthusiast peoples (professionals or amateurs) offer us a natural aesthetic, even in the case of very abstract approaches?
For me it is always a pleasure to be invited to a jury with members always very happy to see images from the “World of Silence”. Whether the jurors are neophyte photographers concerning diving, old “small time diver”.
When they take us with them to the seabed or the lake, these adventurers from another space challenge each visitor and lead them to become creative themselves just watching images.
Many are the ideologues who offer us the oceans for the future of Humanity. A significant part of creation, from Atlantis to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, testifies to the creative virtues of the underwater world. The photographs we should have discovered in the exhibition would have confirmed the great creative potential of diving, as if this was still necessary.
I hope this exhibition can resurface … soon !
La Provence sous Marine
April 25, 2020 au May 09
2020 Cloister Saint Louis
84000 AVIGNON
virtual visit
