For this 8th edition of the “Portrait (s)” festival, maintained despite restrictions and postponements, Fany Dupêchez and Pascal Michaut present a daring program that literally excites us.
It is their art to exhibit in one place a diversity of styles that of Claudine Doury, whose large color portraits reveal a tender beauty that is sometimes wistful, always intriguing.
On the other hand Chris Steele-Perkins, photographer and member of Magnum photos , shows England of the 60s and 70s in B&W with sloppy, arrogant and showy “Teddy boys”, another world not so distant …
In contrast, Rima Samman offers us small oriental portraits, painted with pastel colors, and creates a visual, subtle and delicate delight of the Lebanese society of the last century.
Alexis Cordesse does a remarkable work of anthropologist through portraits of the genocidaires of Rwanda, whose eyes fix us horribly and whose captions explain the abominations to us.
Fortunately the festival also takes place outdoors, along the Allier, and there I must admit my surprise at the imagination of Charles Fréger, with his portraits of masquerades in South America and around the world, where costumes, adornments and masks recreate phantasmagoric characters.
Thanks to the richness of these choices and to the mastery of the scenography, produced with the assistance of Sylvie Meunier and Pascal Michaut, Fany Dupêchez is increasingly establishing herself as a reference in the world of photography, both for the relevance of her choices and by her endearing and warm personality.
Jean-Francois Camp
Portrait(s) Vichy
Until October 25th, 2020
https://www.ville-vichy.fr/portraits
https://www.ville-vichy.fr/portraits/2020
