The La Gacilly photo festival has been taking place for almost twenty years in the Breton village of the same name in northwestern France. Since the first edition, it has one goal: to tell the story of contemporaneity by exhibiting projects that push us to reflect on social and environmental issues.
This year one of the sections of the festival, Visions of the east, focuses on three Southwest Asian countries: Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They share the cultural heritage of the Persian sphere of influence, the Muslim religion which also regulates the laws of the state, and conflicts and tensions that have been going on for decades; but also courageous artists who have chosen to use photography to tell the limits and contradictions of their countries.
Like Fatimah Hossaini, a 28-year-old artist, photographer, teacher and activist who fled from Afghanistan to France when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. She also brought with her all her portraits of Afghan women who, before at the beginning of the Taliban government, they tried to find a personal balance between freedom of expression, modernity and tradition. Or like Maryam Firuzi, another young photographer who instead chooses a non-documentary path to reflect on the role of women and their possibilities in Iranian society.
A retrospective is dedicated to a great author like Abbas, also from Iran, the first four years after his death. Photojournalist first with the Sipa and Gamma agencies and then with Magnum since 1981, he became famous thanks to the story of the 1979 revolution in Iran, and his entire career is linked to the search for the relationship that unites human beings with God and religions . Among the lights and shadows of his black and white film, Abbas focused on the clash of opposite poles: myth and reality, fanaticism and derision, chaos and beauty.
The other authors of Visions of the east sono Gohar Dashti, Hashem Shakeri, Paul Amalsy, The Véronique de Viguerie et Sarah Caron, Shah Marai and Wakil Kohsar.
The La Gacilly photo festival will remain open until 30 September.