EXPOSITION DE PHOTOGRAPHIES Eric Bouvet et Michel Thersiquel. REFUGES, l'homme par monts et par mers

As in the 2022-2023 edition (artist in residence: Stéphane Lavoué), the association decides to keep the idea of ​​crossing views with a maritime territory, that of Brittany as part of the twinning of the commune of Combloux with the town of Concarneau (Finistère). These two regions, so rich in their natural, historical and built heritage, are also dependent on the harshness of their climate and their complex environment to tame. The women and men who have always lived there share many common stories.
For the 2024 edition, we called on Mr. ERIC BOUVET to offer him an artist residency in Combloux on the theme of mountain refuges in the Mont-Blanc region. The general objective remains to place man at the heart of his environment.
Concerning the Breton part, the Musée de la Pente and the association “Les amis de Thersi” in Douarnenez have selected from its photographic collection around thirty photos by Michel Thersiquel evoking the theme of refuges in a maritime environment.

Éric Bouvet was born in Paris in 1961. After studying graphic arts and industries at the École Estienne in Paris, he became a photojournalist by joining the prestigious Agence Gamma in 1983. From 1990, he worked on his own subjects as a than independent. For four decades, he traveled the world and covered most of the conflicts that changed the course of History. Always on the front line, his reports are published in the biggest international magazines: Time, Life, Newsweek, Paris-Match, Sunday-Time Magazine, Stern, New-York Times, Der Spiegel, Géo, Figaro Magazine…
For several years, he has turned to more documentary photography, more contemporary inspired with a large format 8×10 camera. For 5 years he surveyed the Mont Blanc massif for a book: “Elevations” (released in November 2023).
This commitment has been repeatedly rewarded with national and international prizes.

Died in 2007 at the age of 63, the Breton photographer Michel Thersiquel left behind a considerable collection: more than 115 negatives and color slides, produced over nearly forty years. In 000, he opened a photo shop in Pont-Aven, the “city of painters”. Recognized by big names in photography like Jean-Claude Gautrand and Jean-Claude Lemagny, he was considered at a very young age as one of the ten best French photographers of his generation. He was then called upon to exhibit in Paris and abroad to represent young French photography.
His work is inseparable from his native region: deciding to go against the folkloric representation associated with Brittany, the disembodied postcard images, he sets out on the roads and immerses himself in the daily life of his research subjects. of the authenticity of faces, gestures and places. Over the years, it is his region that he immortalizes through these fishermen, farmers, shopkeepers and workers that he meets... Photography becomes his reason for living, his relationship with the world and with people. His images bear witness to this, strong and full of humanity.