Every second year, from 10 September to 2 October, the picturesque lake-side Swiss town of Vevey, becomes an outdoor museum of photography. On display this year are 75 projects based around the theme of immersion, displayed on the facades of buildings, on the lake, in parks, and in often unusual indoor venues. The photography is the work of national and international artists. A full list can be viewed here.
The works are spread all around town, sometimes in some quite unexpected places. The map below sets out their locations. Click here for a full PDF of the map with an index.
As most of the festival is displayed outside much of it can be viewed around the clock. Indoor exhibitions open every day from 11:00-19:00. The event is free. Guided tours are available in French and can be arranged in English, German and Italian. The festival’s website home page, which is also in English, provides further information.
Here are a few images of the festival to give you a taste of what is on offer.
Photomontage Martin Parr, Think of Switzerland, 2012 © Martin Parr/Magnum Photos / Courtesy Nicola von Senger
This photograph, entitled “Think of Switzerland”, is by Martin Parr. Parr is considered one of his generation’s great photographers. For 40 years, he has been delivering a scathing critique of contemporary society, with a focus on the excesses of popular leisure activities and mass tourism. This photograph is from a series about Switzerland, produced by the English photographer in 2012, it shows a close-up of a tourist admiring the mountains in Zermatt, as if he were inlaid into the panorama.
“Revelations” de Marvin Leuvrey. Photo © Céline Michel / Festival Images Vevey 2016
This image is the work of the young French artist Marvin Leuvrey. Entitled “Revelations”, the installation becomes fantasy like by immersing itself into Lake Geneva. Leuvrey combines photography with elements from its context such as soil, sand and trash, collected from the lakeside. He also integrates water into his work by using the lake as a developing bath. Visitors are invited to walk on the images.
Laurie Simmons, Water Ballet, 1980-1981 © Laurie Simmons
This work is by the American artist Laurie Simmons. For almost 40 years, Laurie Simmons’ work has questioned the portrayal of women in mass media and advertising and contributed to the feminist critique. For her series “Water Ballet” (1980-1981), she photographed her friends, including Cindy Sherman, indulging in underwater choreography in a swimming pool. This historical series, inspired by the aesthetics of water ballet, which was very fashionable in American cinema in the 1940s and 1950s, shows men and women swimming with abandon, as if freed from the constraints of society. The Festival presents this series in large format in backlit windows, giving the viewer the sense they are viewing it through a porthole in a ship or an aquarium.
For more amazing shots – photos of photos, check out the festival’s Instagram page. But don’t forget to go and see the real thing!
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