The Vevey photography biennial opened under sunny skies. Strolling through the city’s narrow streets, you could see photographs of all sizes, children swimming in the central fountain, an amphibious car giving passers-by a taste of the ocean, and a gigantic fork inviting visitors to enjoy the local cuisine. The local gastronomy museum was hosting an exhibition demonstrating the international dimension of the festival, and providing an insight into recipes with cooks and dishes from across the world. Diptychs juxtaposing a portrait and a plate of food, paying tribute to both grandmothers and cuisine, were cooked up in the imagination of the Italian artist Gabriele Galimberti. Coincidence?
The mostly outdoor festival provided a veritable world tour, allowing visitors to come upon series of images and giant pictures. This was the case for a Cindy Sherman’s enormous self-portrait that greeted visitors as they left the train station, and the Noémie Goudal landscapes covering entire façades of buildings. This playful visual atmosphere offered visitors a new experience of the photographic image. The “dioramas” of Sohei Nishino are an experience in themselves. Consisting of thousands of photographs, these arrangements form what seems to be an aerial view of the city. From closer up, the perspective changes: all the images were taken from the ground, a street view instead of a birds-eye view, and the proportions of neighborhoods and monuments are misleading in the way they reflect the experience of a first-time photographer in the city.
The Diorama Map of Berne, produced specially for the occasion, was printed on a 20-meter wide sheet and laid out flat in the middle of the Place Scanavin. An installation allows visitors to visit the federal city “by foot” or admire it from above on temporary scaffolding. One remarkable thing about the festival is the number of participatory exhibitions, including an exhibition and a studio by JR (produced by the Rencontres d’Arles) that gave visitors the chance to take pictures of themselves. Visitors to the festival’s website were also encouraged to participate in the Taylor Jones project Dear Photograph, each photographer used one of is archive picture , inserting and mixing it in today image —Gea Casolaro, Andrea Galvani, Frederic Lebain and Jason E. Powell— It serves as a reflection on recursion and memory that was found in the project Vies possibles et imaginaires by Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh and Rozenn Quéré, winners of the Grand Prix International de Photographie de Vevey 2011/2012. Using family photos, the two artists tell the imaginary story of four Lebanese-Palestinian sisters. Awarded by the association that organizes the festival, the Grand Prix was accompanied by three other prizes for Ferando Moleres, Frederick Vidal and Anne Golaz, whose works were also on display. The event was a triumph of photography and curation, in a setting that made it a fine way to end the summer.
Laurence Cornet
FESTIVAL
Images – Festival des arts visuels de Vevey
September 8 – 30, 2012
Vevey
Switzerland
