• 25.06.2025
• 7 min
• Events

From May 24 to 31, 2025, Uzès was transformed into a theater of images and stories, hosting the 10ᵉ edition of the Biennale de la Photographie. Orchestrated by the association Les Azimutés, this edition marks a turning point: now a biennial event, it has established itself as an eagerly awaited rendezvous on the southern cultural scene. Far from the hustle and bustle of current events, it invites us to take a step aside, to take a lucid and sensitive pause in our relationship with the world.

The theme, "Witness to our time, transmitter of memory", set the tone. A discreet but tenacious thread ran through the exhibitions: that of the trace, of heritage, of what images can still convey when words are no longer enough. In an age when the instantaneous prevails, these photographs reintroduce a form of slowness, gravity and sometimes even tenderness. They reveal the intimate, the invisible, the marginal. They speak of love, anger, loss and hope.

The entire town served as a showcase for these works. From the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville to the discreet spaces of the historic center, via the Deleuze-Rochetin estate in Arpaillargues, the exhibits nestled in the ancient stones, opening up like so many chapters in a great visual novel. Walking from one site to the next was like leafing through a collective travel diary, nourished by views from near and far.

Eric Androa Mindre Kolo 's work was one of the highlights of this year's edition. The Congolese artist, deeply affected by violence against women in his country, has chosen to express his indignation through a poetic and powerful body language. His approach is echoed in the Cibles series by photographer Paola Guigou, which documents the condition of women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with delicacy and modesty. Together, they remind us that art can be a cry, but also a gesture of love, an act of silent reparation.

At the other end of the emotional spectrum, but just as poignant, the work of Breton photographer Jean-Louis Mercier offers a luminous immersion in the life of a local gypsy community. His Des amis manouches series is the fruit of an encounter, and then of a deep attachment. He found a family at heart, an intense humanity, often ignored, sometimes scorned. His gaze on these familiar faces is charged with respect and emotion - a tribute to a nomadic, little-known culture, but also a declaration of friendship and admiration.

And then there's Solange Tabary's almost suspended account, Jour de marché avec les Ouïghours à Kashgar, a rare testimony to a world that has been erased. What began as the travel diary of a curious traveler has become, in spite of herself, a precious archive. Her pictures tell the story of the daily life of a people now in peril, in a China where the gentle way of life no longer exists. These images are charged with silence and melancholy, as if we were contemplating a memory that does not belong to us, but which we would like to cherish in spite of everything.

It would be simplistic to see this biennial as just a succession of exhibitions. It's much more than that: it's a place for speaking, sharing and transmitting. Each image becomes a link between one view and another, a past and a future, an emotion and an awareness. As Dominique Nouzille, the festival's communications manager, rightly reminds us, this year's edition is a bet that photography can still touch, make people think and awaken.

By taking the time to meet, reflect and organize a biennial event, Les Azimutés patiently weaves a sensitive fabric into the local cultural landscape. An artistic breath of fresh air, certainly, but also a gesture of trust towards the public: the belief that by taking the time to look, we can still feel.

And perhaps that's the real power of this biennial: to remind us that images are sometimes worth more than a thousand words - because they don't just tell you, they make you feel. It shows not to convince, but to connect. It keeps alive what might otherwise have disappeared. And in the silence of a glance crossed in Uzès, between the warm stones of a town hall or the calm of a shady courtyard, we find ourselves remembering what we never experienced.

Cover photo: Les Azimutés d'Uzès