On Friday, June 20, 2025, the crowd gathered in large numbers at the Grand Thermes for the inauguration of the 13th edition of the Portrait(s) festival, which has become a must-see during the summer season in the city of Vichy. On the program this year, the largest retrospective in France devoted to the work of Isabelle Munoz, a major figure in contemporary Spanish photography.
Born in 1951 in Barcelona, she was not yet thirty years old when she decided to make her passion for the 8th art her profession. From the beginning in the 80s, obsessed with the beauty of the skin, and to better reproduce its grain and light, she learned all kinds of media including collage, or even particular chemical processes such as cyanotype.
Always eager to experiment, she studied large format at the International Center of Photography in New York in 1986. It was with Craig Stevens – a specialist in the genre – that she had a revelation and found her visual identity: her images were printed on platinum prints – a somewhat forgotten artisanal technique. Fascinated by dance that transcends the body, Munoz then traveled the world.
From Cuba to Brazil, passing through China and Cambodia, among others, where she became interested in traditional Khmer ballet, her powerful images were a way for her to share her emotions. It was in this small, scarred country in Southeast Asia that she developed the idea for a new series to document the tragic fate of those mutilated by the genocide and the young victims of sexual slavery.
Since then, she has continued to focus her curious lens on the cause of children and the diversity of human identity. “The Left Hand of the Night”, curated by François Cheval, is a fascinating exhibition that allows visitors to explore her entire body of work, from her first works in Spain to her latest series, a reflection on cyborgs. Through her masterful photographs, most of which she took herself, her installations and her films, we discover the power and committed manifesto of a sensitive artist.
In a completely different register and a pop nod to the spa town, rich in sharp iconography ranging from the mid-20th century to the present day, the peppy photos, from cinema or fashion, presented on the banks of the Allier are a tribute to the Vichy check, a pattern popularized by Empress Eugenie and made famous by Brigitte Bardot in the movie And God Created Woman. A joyful stroll along the water that is not to be missed, which really does you good, essential in our troubled times which recall other dark hours in History.
Because the festival also aims to be a place for sharing and transmission, carte blanche is given this year to the journalist Brigitte Patient with the “Voice of the gaze” to decipher with her words and her very particular tone, tinged with kindness, a photo from “Being there” by Lee Shulman, founder of the Anonymous Project, a specialist in vernacular photography and photographer Omar Victor Diop, known for his crazy self-portraits: the daring association of a “Central European Jew and a Senegalese”, as they like to define themselves, who met in 2019 at the very same festival. Fascinating.
An eclectic edition once again which will not fail to attract an ever-growing audience.
Portrait(s) Festival 2025 is on view in Vichy until September 28, 2025.
