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La Gacilly Photo: African Time

By Rosa Gil

July 23 2017

This small town in French Brittany will be filled with evocative and surreal African images. It is the magic of photography, which takes us on a journey at the La Gacilly Festival.

When it comes to photography , this has been the year of Africa . Europe has surrendered to the force of the visual chroniclers of the neighboring continent; be they historical photographers , portraitists of postcolonial society and its contradictions, studio artists, war correspondents or imaginative contemporary artists.

All these currents come together at the La Gacilly Festival (until September 30), which each year turns this charming little village in French Brittany into a world showcase for outdoor photography that makes its population of 4,000 inhabitants grow to 400,000.

Studio photographs of different African capitals (a symbol of distinction at a certain historical moment) feature prominently in the event, with snapshots taken by Seydoy Keïta or Malick Sidibé in Mali, or Mama Casset in Senegal. But the festival also looks to traditional photographers, such as the Ethiopian Girma Berta, who captures the colors of his country with hypnotic skill, or the urban landscapes of Nigeria that Akintunde Akinleye captures. Finally, the festival focuses on a young generation of artists , such as the Ethiopian Aida Muluneh, a former Washington Post photographer who, in her exhibition 'The World Is Nine Years Old' explores, through color and poetry, her reunion with his native country after a traveling youth.

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