Hyères Festival returns, 25-29 April

Established in 1986 as a festival for young fashion designers, and adding a prize for emerging photographers in 1997, the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Fashion accessories, Hyères has established itself as a small but beautiful festival with a cutting-edge handle on photography in fashion and beyond.

The artistic director for photography is Raphaëlle Stopin, and this year she’s presenting exhibitions such as a solo show by Craig McDean plus a 25-year retrospective of Self-Service magazine. As usual, the festival also features work by 10 up-and-coming photographers, plus exhibitions by the two prize winners from 2018 – Eva O’Leary (who won the Grand Prix for photography last year) and Sarah Mei Herman (who won the American Vintage-sponsored prize).

The finalists for the 2019 competition are: Federico Berardi (Switzerland – Italy); Hubert Crabieres (France); Kerry J Dean (United Kingdom); Tommy Kha (China – USA); Hilla Kurki (Finland); Vincent Levrat (Switzerland); Alice Mann (South Africa); Andrew Nuding (Ireland); Jean-Vincent Simonet (France); and Elsa & Johanna (France). Their work will be on show until 28 May, and as well as competing for main prize, they will be commissioned to shoot new images for a Still Life Prize, and for the American Vintage Photography Prize.

Untitled 08, from the series Outburst, 2018 © Vincent Levrat (Switzerland)

This year 700 photographers entered the prize, with the final ten picked out by a jury composed of: Craig McDean (photographer, president of the jury); Marc Ascoli (creative director, AnOther Paris); Thomas Bonnouvrier (manager, Art + Commerce Paris); Patrice Haddad (producer, Première Heure Paris); Paris Lees (journalist, London); Patrick Li (creative director, founder, Li Inc. New York); Guinevere Van Seenus (model, New York); Masha Vasyukova (filmmaker, Paris); and Eva O’Leary.

Alongside these shows, there will also be exhibitions and presentations of work by fashion and accessory designers. The festival is held in the Villa Noailles, a Modernist villa built by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens for art patrons Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles in the 1920s in Provence.

www.villanoailles-hyeres.com

Guinevere van Seenus, Jil Sander Campaign Spring 1996. From the exhibition Craig McDean
From the exhibition by Eva O’Leary, the winner of the Grand Prix du Jury Photographie 2018
From the exhibition by Sarah Mei Herman, who won the Prix de la Photographie American Vintage 2018
Untitled 03, from the series Outburst, 2018 © Vincent Levrat (Switzerland)
Untitled 04, from the series Outburst, 2018 © Vincent Levrat (Switzerland)
Trooper, JH, 9th/12th, from the series Royal Lancers, 2012 © Federico Berardi (Switzerland-Italy)
Untitled, from the series Lash Vegas, 2015-18 © Federico Berardi (Switzerland-Italy)
Untitled, from the series Gravity and Grace, 2018 © Hubert Crabieres (France)
Untitled, from the series Gravity and Grace, 2017 © Hubert Crabieres (France)
Black Bomber Pom Pom Girl, from Observations and Orchestrations, 2017 © Kerry J Dean, UK
Striped Overload, from Observations and Orchestrations, 2018 © Kerry J Dean (UK)
Playground, from Beyond the Shadows, 2018-2019 © Elsa & Johanna (France)
Their type of thing, from Beyond the Shadows, 2018-2019 © Elsa & Johanna (France)
Composition #1, from the series In Bloom, 2018 © Jean-Vincent Simonet (France)
Flower #2, from the series In Bloom, 2018 © Jean-Vincent Simonet (France)
Space Invaders, from the series Making Strange, 2018 © Andrew Nuding (Ireland)
McDonald’s Dead Sunflower, from the series Making Strange, 2018 © Andrew Nuding (Ireland)
Taylim Prince, Delft, Cape Town, South Africa. From the series Drummies, 2017 © Alice Man (South Africa)
Wakiesha Titus and Riley Van Harte, Atlantis, Cape Town, South Africa. From the series Drummies, 2018 © Alice Man (South Africa)
Medusa, from If You Are a Wound, I Am the Scar, 2017 © Hilla Kurki (Finland)
To Hold, from If You Are a Wound, I Am the Scar, 2017 © Hilla Kurki (Finland)
Constallations (VIII), from the series I’m Only Here to Leave, 2017 © Tommy Kha (China/USA)
Mine (VII), from the series I’m Only Here to Leave, 2017 © Tommy Kha (China/USA)
Diane Smyth

Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023 - after 15 years on the team until 2019. As a freelancer, she has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Creative Review, Aperture, FOAM, Aesthetica and Apollo. She has also curated exhibitions for institutions such as The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. You can follow her on instagram @dismy