Gigantic work 'Alger, Climat de France', by Stéphane Couturier, at the La Gacilly Photography Festival, in French Brittany.
When in 2003 Jacques Rocher, son of Yves Rocher and honorary president of the French company, started the People & Nature project in La Gacilly (where his father was from) nothing foreshadowed that that original 'labyrinth' of small photographs exhibited in the middle of nature would end up becoming the international photography festival that it is today.
Since then, almost three and a half million visitors have walked through the cobbled streets and gardens of this small Breton town to enjoy the images –in some cases gigantic– taken by a total of 300 photographers (whose work has always been bought) .
We owe it to Jacques Rocher, now mayor of the city, that the original objective of the Photo La Gacilly Festival has not been distorted along the way: every year, for the last 15 years, and although the themes vary, there is always a social and ecological background that aims to make you think about the dangers that lie in wait for the planet.
In Gacilly we have been able to see hanging from a façade –at an enormous size– Steve McCurry's Afghan Girl Portrait and, more recently, Tim Flach's conceptual animals.
This year's theme (in which the works will remain on display for free until September 30) revolves around the need to question the current state of the planet. An idea that has its roots in the photographs taken (and shared on the internet) by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the European space station, where he spent a total of 196 hours between November 2016 and June 2017.
His photos are, even more so, much more spectacular, printed in giant size and hung from two central stone houses in La Gacilly. They are spatial, but also special!
The "Festival of warm and cool colors of the Betsiboka river in #Madagascar", just as Pesquet described the snapshot on his Twitter, and the abstract painting that makes up the hundreds of circular farm fields in the desert of Saudi Arabia.
In addition, the organization of the largest open-air photo festival in France has set up, right in front of these works, a relaxation area where you can rest and have a drink while enjoying the photographic and incredible panorama.
Two photos exhibited at La Gacilly and taken by the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the European space station between 2016 and 2017.
AN IDYLLIC BRITAIN VILLAGE
With only 2,300 registered inhabitants, La Gacilly is currently known for this festival, but also for having been the nerve center of the cosmetic brand Yves Rocher , since its founder did everything possible in the 50s so that his hometown did not die of inactivity. He started making his first natural beauty products here and today it maintains a huge store where you can buy them and a Botanical Garden with more than 1,100 species of plants that you can visit.
Also on top of a hill at the edge of the town, there is a four-star hotel called La Grée des Landes with an Yves Rocher spa where you can enjoy the beauty and wellness protocols of the French firm.
Every corner of La Gacilly is likely to host a photograph.
Rocher's arrival in the middle of the last century also created a pull effect that caused many artisans from the region settled in La Gacilly. A tradition that is still in force and that can be felt in many of the shops that dot its main streets: glass craftsmen, filigree craftsmen, marquetry craftsmen, miniature ateliers...
There are also pastry shops where you can buy one of the traditional Brittany desserts, the butter cake, and restaurants where you can immerse yourself in traditional Breton gastronomy without having to abandon current preparations.
This is the case of Les Enfants Gatthes, where they respect the rhythm of the seasons and They only work with 100% Breton producers. Here even coca cola is Breton, Breizh Cola is called. Quite a success when the goal is to make people feel and share the spirit of one of the most authentic regions of France.
Breton nettle cake and Breton courgette salad at the Les Enfants Gatthes restaurant in Gacilly.
Metaphotography: a photographer, photographing a photograph by Jan C. Schlegel, at the La Gacilly photographic festival.