Itinérance – Itinerant – photography exhibition, Paris

Itinérance is a photography exhibition in the Jardin du Luxembourg from 5-16 September 2019. It features three photographers: Sandrine Duval, Francois Lakosy, and Florian Gautier.

The exhibition is a ‘symbolic journey’ of three itinerant photographers ‘facing a fragmented world, enigmatic and tinged with melancholy, but also filled with humor and tenderness.’

Sandrine Duval ‘ventures into a mysterious reality, from which she captures and relates solitary shadows and whimsical silhouettes, oscillating between clarity and darkness … vaporous mist, heavy fabrics or blinding light.’ ‘Blur, backlight and chiaroscuro, over-framing, depth and frontality, make up a disturbing image, where the dream merges with reality.’ The photographs are in old frames ‘like an open window on another world.’

Francois Lakosy’s landscapes ‘invite viewers to travel as much as they offer the promise of an asylum.’ ‘If human presence is discreet, it is nevertheless essential, affirming the possibility of a harmonious dialogue between man and the environment in which he finds himself ... and gets lost.’ From the extreme whiteness of ice to the obscurity of a crepuscular sky, Francois Lakosy captures different shades ‘open to distance and contemplation, crossed by bodies, glances and thought.’

Florian Gautierhas spent about ten years in Southeast Asia. His images ‘bear the seal, the stigmas, even if the places are never explicit.’ His journey appears through his images of ‘charcoal and incandescent black and white’ tracing ‘an autobiographical, dreamlike and chaotic itinerary.’ Gautier says ‘it is a life cycle backwards: from desolation to tenderness, from death to life’ where ‘elements and animals accompany faces and silhouettes by spoofing their fury, their sweetness and, ultimately, their hope.’

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog