We are in 2003.
Let us take a region, one of the least populated in France and one of the most beautiful, if not the most original, the wildest …, Aubrac.
Let us take in this region a village: Nasbinals (500 inhabitants).
Take the mayor of this village, we imagine the interest he shows in his municipality, as well as in the community of municipalities for which he is responsible.
Take Isabelle, Dominique, Véro, Cathy and Laurence, five people who were born and live here, and who want to animate this village and this region.
Take a photographer, friend of the five people, passionate about the flora, the fauna and the four seasons of Aubrac. He has already published a lot on the subject …
From the encounter, synergy and skills of this group will emerge PHOT’Aubrac.
That was 2012.
Take the PHOT’Aubrac festival. The energies are blunted, the daily constraints of each wear out the best will. The festival stagnate …
Let us take a reporter – photographer going from Paris to Arles where he lives. To spice up his trip, he chooses to discover France from the inside. Crossing Aubrac, he immediately falls under the spell of its landscapes and its prime rib. (A little aligot, too …)
Bed and Breakfast in Nasbinals, our man likes to tell. He explains to Laurence (see the five people above) his job and the years he spent taking care of the Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles …
Laurence’s blood only swirls around. She instantly understands that the man for the job is standing in front of her, the one who can revive the festival …
The man I am talking about who stops at Nasbinals at the bed & breakfast is none other than Jean-Pierre Montiel, the current president of the PHOT’Aubrac association and main organizer.
We are in 2020.
What this festival has become today, what it reveals about a mode of expression that allows us to tell the stories of the world in which we operate much better than any text, associated with a stroll in unusual places, in the heart of a unique and authentic landscapes, in harmony with the content of the exhibitions presented, it demonstrates, if it were necessary, that culture and photography can hold a preponderant place in places to the antipode of galleries and major festivals in large cities.
Maurice Subervie
INFOS
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