VISIONS OF THE EAST
UNVEILING THE WORLD
As uncertainty surrounds the future of Europe, hopes for a peaceful and harmonious tomorrow have never been stronger. These past few years have certainly been disruptive, transforming all our lives. Culture, and in particular photography, enables us to find the keys we need to move forward together as citizens of the world.
Since 2004, La Gacilly Photo Festival has contributed to the vitality and revival of a rural area. With its roots firmly established in the village, close to local people and institutions, every summer the Festival Association stages an event showcasing multifaceted photography that is acclaimed both nationally and internationally.
With the help of a team of enthusiasts and an invaluable crew of volunteers, backed by public and private partners who remain as committed and passionate as ever, the Festival is an inclusive event that unites photographers, other operators and the public around a set of shared values.
For the last 19 years, La Gacilly Photo Festival has proudly championed a fully committed programme presenting photographic perspectives, a variety of visions and a cross-section of viewpoints from different horizons on show for all to see, free of charge. With Visions of the East, the Festival is again expressing its ambition to explore the environmental and societal issues currently affecting our planet with more boldness and verve than ever.
Its success is shared with a loyal and ever-wider audience – there were more than 320,000 visitors last year – contributing to the economic vitality of our rural area. We hope to continue holding up a mirror to society for many more years to come, all the while fanning the flames of hope and positivity for a better world.
Jacques Rocher
Founder of the Festival & Mayor of La Gacilly
We have recently reached new thresholds of horror, revolt, anger and incomprehension. Our perspective of the whole world is being readjusted. We are being engulfed by a profusion of reports and messages, each more distressing than the last. Among all this confusion and conflicting information – sometimes disinformation, or incomplete information that is intended to further our understanding – what are we supposed to think and do? This atmosphere weighs heavily on each and every one of us as we go about our daily lives. However, we mustn’t stop living for fear of suffering. Let’s continue to believe in the creative capacity and resistance to oppression of a nation that will sooner or later secure its own freedom. In parallel, we should be proud of the tremendous solidarity that we continue to show daily to this beleaguered population to ensure they will stand up again tomorrow. Aware, responsible and confident: these three words have always guided La Gacilly Photo Festival and, rest assured, they will continue to do so in 2022. Aware, in the editorial line of each year’s Festival, as we highlight the environmental and societal issues of our time; Responsible, in affirming our choice to show the perspectives of our guest photographers in order to sharpen our visitors’ own visions; And resolutely confident when we show the strength, adaptability and resilience of thousands of people around the world. Tirelessly, we will give a voice to those who resist adversity, who reinvent themselves to avoid suffering, to those who think and then act, and who do their best in a world characterised by upheaval and change. Our commitment remains the same: to move, to raise awareness, to share, in the interests of a responsible world.