Khamsa khamsa khamsa—“five” in Arabic, repeated three times like a protective incantation—is an autobiographical visual narrative in the form of a family archive. At first glance, Gat tells the story of her childhood and adolescence growing up with alternative educational methods, with portraits of her siblings, friends and domestic scenes. However, underneath these family album-like images, a photographer’s writing emerges. Gat tells her story by gradually defining her way of capturing the faces and growing bodies of those around her, often in peaceful Mediterranean landscapes. “When I was ten, I promised myself never to forget how children see the world,” she says. “Everything is new. Imagination blends with reality and the unknown is exciting.” Documenting her everyday life is the running thread of the artist’s work, allowing her to connect the adult photographer to her child sensibility.
Born in 1997, Julia Gat is a photographer based in Marseille. At the crossroads of documentary and portrait photography, her work explores human interaction in its purest form. Her project won the award Isem Jeune Photographe 2020 and the public award Steenbergen Stipendium 2021. It was recently exhibited at the Netherlands Photography Museum and the Rencontres d’Arles, and published by Actes Sud in June 2022.
Salon Polyptyque
from August 26th to September 10th 2022
Centre Photographique Marseille
3, rue Henri Fiocca
13001, Marseille, France
https://www.centrephotomarseille.fr/polyptyque
