Fragilities - Jean-Marc Vidal

"The important thing is to see what is invisible to others". R. Franck.

Designed for the galery and echoing the theme of the Biennale, the exhibition deals with the fragility of a human and environmental ecosystem in mutation. The village of Tence has preserved its architectural character and a beautiful unity, between stones and roofing stones. It was a major centre of the cattle trade when agriculture and trade gave rhythm to local life. Crafts and small businesses have replaced family farms, tourists in search of beautiful spaces are here for a season and some farmers are reviving crops and farms with a reasoned or organic dimension. People came for their second home, many stayed, a phenomenon of relative urban exodus is observed. Jean-Marc Vidal has undertaken to portray the multiple fragilities of this territory, in black and white. He was born in 1960 in Saint-Etienne. At the age of 16, he received his first camera as a gift and began to practice black and white photography. This passion for photography has never left him. A chance meeting with a great professional convinced him to move to Saint-Etienne where he has been working as a professional since the mid-1980s, then to Tence. Three times winner of the title of "Portraitist of France" he was guest of honor at Barrobjectif in 2011 and at the festival L'été des portraits in 2012 and 2016 where he won two bronze medals.