For this first edition, Jean-Luc Montérosso, director of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, was the Artistic Director. The program naturally begins with an exhibition of photos selected from the MEP collection: from Boubat to Izis, including Sabine Weiss, Berengo Gardin or Jean-Philippe Charbonnier. The each present images representative of the “Great Trip” that their elders took on the 19th century Mediterranean.
A series of pictures taken on the shores of the Adriatic paint a parallel portrait of Albania from 1858 to 1950 with pictures from the Marubi, a dynasty of Albanian photographers. The Marubi family archives hold more than 100,000 negatives, the majority of which were on glass plates. Peasants, warriors, veiled women… evocative of Ismaël Kadaré’s description in “Albanie profonde et insoumise”.
Manca Juvan provides us with a portrayal of poverty in Afghanistan and life devastated after 30 years of conflict in “Des vies pas ordinaires”. Pictures by Dusko Miljanic presented at PhotoMed were taken in January, 2009, in the little village of Ostros in Monténegro. Miljanic received an invitation from local fisherman to document a yearly event in changing locations depending on fish reproduction sites. A traditional event reserved for only a few select village residents. Stratos Kalafatis provides a portrayal of the independent Monastic state of Mont Athos. The first monks arrived there prior to the 9th century. Today, Mont Athos counts more than two thousand (russian, bulgarian, serbian, romanian). As he describes his work “The Mont Athos is difficult to shoot, it needs time to reveal itself. I spent more than a year observing how it changes and how it stays the same… I was most interested in the way visitors perceive the monks and attempt to approach them.”
Among the Mediterranean photographers on display are Malisa Önel, Carolle Benitah and Ornela Vorpsi. Each of these women explores memory and seeks to exorcise the ghosts of the past. Melisa Önel studies prints with a poetic series about the importance of memory. Carolle Benitah explores her own past, reinterpreting it in relation to the present. Finally, Ornela Vorpsi tries, through portraits and self portraits, to evoke intimate memories.
Personal Exhibitions
- Claude Nori / The lovers journey - Alain Kantarjian / Following Henri Matisse’s footsteps in Tangiers - Angel Albarran & Anna Cabrera / This is not a Mediterranean city – Philippe Ramette / Exploration of the deep sea bottom - Nicolas Henry - Pierre-Anthony Allard / Italian travels – Cristiana Thoux / iMarseille - Jean-Baptiste Sénégas
