For the sixth consecutive year, the festival Images Singulières held in Sète, France, through June 15th, has grown more and more convivial. It moves along at a southern pace: cicada season approaches, Piquepoul flows and the atmosphere is laidback. Despite the exceptional exhibitions and installations here, there’s no pretension. Everyone gets to meet each other and talk. Artistic director Gilles Favier shakes hands and gives out kisses without ever looking down his nose, always curious to meet someone new and hear what they enjoyed at the festival. Close to both his audience and his team—volunteers included— Favier insisted, despite financial difficulties, on keeping the event free of charge thanks to partnerships with the news website Médiapart for the project “La France Vue d’Ici,” which features the work of four talented photographers.
The festival doesn’t overlook the locals, and every year a residency is awarded to a photographer who offers a new perspective on this city, hometown of the singer-songwriter Georges Brassens. This year the residency went to Richard Dumas. Like every year, his work will appear in a book co-published by the Association Cétavoir and Bec en l’air.
Documentary photography is the main focus at Images Singulières. The exhibitions are held in a chapel on the hills of Mont St. Clair, in the magnificent Théâtre de la mer, in museums and exhibitions halls, and in the old wine cellars along the canal. These imposing stone buildings are also the sites of evening projections and other festivities. Everyone dances and sings after the first day of openings and conferences. And the next day is just as filled with programs that cannot be missed. From emerging photographers like Samuel Gratacap to the neglected work of Gaston Paris and an exceptional exhibition of Russian photography at the Maison de l’Image Documentaire, there’s much to discover.
FESTIVAL
ImageSingulières 2014
Du 28 Mai au 15 Juin 2014
Sète, France
www.imagesingulieres.com
