Every summer, the small village of La Gacilly, in Brittany (France), is transformed into a joyful photographic garden. Between flower-lined streets and wooded paths, dozens of outdoor exhibitions weave a dialogue between images and the living. For this 2025 edition, the festival confirms its humanist and ecological vocation, while honoring a country that has marked the history of photography: the United Kingdom. Entitled “So British,” this edition celebrates the inventiveness, humor, sense of observation, and sometimes biting irony of British photographers, while maintaining its eternal theme: man in his environment.
“What matters to us at the La Gacilly Photo Festival is embracing all forms of photographic writing,” says Cyril Drouhet, exhibition curator and director of photography at the French newspaper Le Figaro. “We mix old photography, documentary, photojournalism and art. Everyone can find an emotion, a sensitivity.” This desire for openness permeates the entire program, which offers a panorama that is as demanding as it is generous.
A celebration of British photography
With its 22 open-air exhibitions, free and accessible to all, the festival stretches over 1.5 kilometers, through the streets, gardens, and even the village walls. Since its creation in 2004, La Gacilly has championed a vision of photography as a lever for raising awareness and awakening to the world’s beauty as much as its fractures. It is also one of the most popular festivals in Europe, attracting more than 320,000 visitors each year.
Starting with one of the big names of this edition: Martin Parr. Although he was unable to attend – “He’s in Italy for a festival where his film, Lee Shulman’s I am Martin Parr, is in competition,” explains Cyril Drouhet – the British photographer’s spirit still hangs over La Gacilly. “Martin Parr is a controversial figure. When he started out, Magnum didn’t want him. Starting with Cartier-Bresson, who opposed him.” Today, his caustic take on consumer society is part of the history of photography. “His unique perspective, his attention to detail, is what makes him strong. Some find him mocking, even mean. But he deeply loves people and his fellow citizens.”
The exhibition dedicated to him retraces several decades of impertinent and brilliant images, notably from his iconic series on British holidaymakers, supermarkets, and weddings. Lee Shulman’s film, released in September 2024, available on Apple TV and screened at the festival’s opening, sheds light on his photography. “The film he made with Lee Shulman is exceptional. In one hour, you understand his entire approach.”
Among the major figures of this edition, the exhibition dedicated to Don McCullin is a highlight, both moving and essential. The British photographer, now 89 years old, presents a retrospective of his work, from his beginnings in the deprived neighborhoods of London to the theaters of war in Vietnam, Lebanon and Biafra. His images, of raw power, bear witness to decades spent documenting horror and human dignity. More than a witness, McCullin considers himself a man haunted by what he has seen: “I am almost at the end of my life, and even of my time in photography,” he says. “I have had a wonderful life, but deep down, I have the feeling that I don’t deserve it, really, because I am still alive. And ultimately, photography has made me sing almost all my life.”
Installed at the heart of the exhibition, in the aptly named Garage, the exhibition offers a journey through the 20th century seen from the perspective of a human being, often from the perspective of the wounded. Each image questions the photographer’s responsibility and the impact—or powerlessness—of photography in the face of the world’s violence. “Look at what’s happening in Gaza. We haven’t stopped anything, unfortunately. We’ve been through all these wars. We’ve seen all these incredible images, but they haven’t stopped the war, in my opinion. Personally, I feel I’ve accomplished very little in my last 70 years.” This disillusioned look in no way detracts from the political and moral force of his work, which invites the visitor to see, to understand, and not to look away.
The British theme is also expressed through the works of Tony Ray-Jones, a pioneer of English social photography, who greatly inspired Martin Parr, and whose images are magnificent in their humanity, not forgetting a touch of humor, like that of the legs in the air of a young boy surrounded by four ladies with disconcerting phlegm. Those of Terry O’Neill, known for his intimate portraits of stars such as the Rolling Stones, Brigitte Bardot or David Bowie, who according to legend does not remember the session with the photographer because he was too “on drugs”. The work of Mary Turner paints a contemporary portrait of the United Kingdom, documenting with great accuracy the consequences of Brexit and austerity. As for Anna Atkins, a historical figure, she is celebrated for her cyanotypes of plants, taken as early as the 19th century, and which make her the first female scientific photographer.
Environment and humanity
In a very different register, the French photographer Axelle de Russé unveils an atmospheric and poetic work, the fruit of several years of work in the northernmost and southernmost regions of the planet. “The series began in 2016 in the North, and the more recent images date from 2024,” says the photographer. “I wanted to show these territories without falling into the clichés of global warming – no polar bears, but something else. Global warming is not always visible. It is the stories of the inhabitants that make it perceptible.” Marked by a stay in Svalbard, she discovered the evocative power of the polar night. “It was when I discovered an exhibition by Claudia Andujar that I had the idea: why not try infrared?” Her bold technical approach gives rise to images of a captivating strangeness. “Normally, infrared is done in warm, green environments; it transforms the color green into red. I tried it in the snow, where there are no trees. My best photos are often accidents.”
From the far north to the depths of the ocean, biologist photographer Laurent Ballesta explores a world that is still largely unknown. His dives, true scientific expeditions, reveal a fascinating and threatened biodiversity. “We say that nature is fragile, but we forget how much more fragile we are,” he says. “Without antibiotics, without social security, we can’t survive. These animals survive the ages, climatic shocks, extremes, and continue to reproduce. It’s a lesson in robustness.” His exhibition, which brings together some of his most famous photos, highlights creatures that look prehistoric, but are essential to our survival. “The coelacanth is Jurassic Park in real life. We thought it had disappeared 65 million years ago. And yet, it’s here. It’s the greatest zoological discovery of the 20th century. As for the horseshoe crab, it has poor eyesight and doesn’t swim fast.” And yet, it is indispensable: its blue blood instantly detects toxins, and it is used in our vaccines. This creature, hundreds of millions of years old, could become extinct because of our medical needs. In 2023, 700,000 horseshoe crabs were captured. It is a painful paradox.
This sometimes ambivalent relationship between humans and animals is also at the heart of Corey Arnold’s work. A former fisherman turned documentary photographer, he offers a subtle chronicle of the coexistence between wildlife and urban spaces. “When I was a child, my father often brought home injured animals. He was a gardener, and we also kept animals away to protect the plants. What interests me most are the survivors—these animals who have learned to live alongside us.” His gaze mixes tenderness and lucidity, through scenes of life that are sometimes comical, sometimes tragic, where man and animal cross paths, ignore each other or adapt to one another. “I have always wanted to tell the story of animals differently – not only with tenderness, but also critically.”
Each exhibition at La Gacilly features a unique scenography, designed with sobriety and respect for the setting. Tarpaulins suspended on the walls and between the trees, large-scale displays integrated into the stone of the houses, and shaded paths inviting contemplation: everything here aims to create a gentle and lasting immersion. The peaceful atmosphere of the Breton village plays a key role in providing a unique visitor experience.
Another sensitive look at our world: that of Cig Harvey, a British woman living in exile in Maine, USA. With her colorful images, the photographer offers a visual meditation on the beauty of the world and our deep connection to nature. “Color is a way to connect with the world. I actively seek beauty in nature—it makes me a better friend, a better writer, a better inhabitant of this planet.” An approach praised by Cyril Drouhet: “Color, for her, is never trivial. It is a vector of sensation, of perception. It acts almost like an emotional imprint.”
Travels
More political, more social, the work of Françoise Huguier—another documentary photography star this year at La Gacilly—immerses us in her African archives, and in particular her strong ties with Mali. She says that on the morning of the opening, she showed middle school students around the exhibition and was surprised to have to take out a map of Africa, as some didn’t know where Nigeria or Sudan were. “For me, Africa exists, and it’s very important. Especially Mali, my second country.” Far from any academic stance, her approach is based on observation and complicity. “I didn’t go to school. But when you’re a photographer, you look at the world, you observe. You look at people, details, jewelry…”
The journey continues. In Japan with François Fontaine, whose images are touching. “This project was born out of a need for nature. I had already been to Japan in 2008, but this time I wanted to fully immerse myself in Japanese nature,” he says. His photographs, taken in forests, gardens, and sacred places, delicately capture the atmosphere of Japanese landscapes. “Koyasan and Nikko are extraordinary places. Koyasan is like a pilgrimage to the mountains. Nikko is the majesty of its cedar and pine forests, its magnificent temples. It’s a country that deeply inspires me with its poetry, its sensory connection to the landscape. This variety, this atmosphere, is what I wanted to capture.”
Finally, it’s time for the street, with the spontaneous and graphic approach of London photographer Josh Edgoose, whose flagship photo “was taken very spontaneously, I saw this vintage bus, I thought it was superb, then a taxi drove past – it was a coincidence.”
Further on, the exhibition dedicated to Robert Doisneau evokes our childhood memories and seaside vacations. Alongside it, we see the work of Frédéric Noy, who has been documenting climate-displaced people in the Great Lakes region of Africa for several years. A demanding body of work that gives a voice to those forced from their homes by climate change.
English photographer Gina Soden explores the aesthetics of ruin. Her photographs of abandoned places, somewhere between decay and rebirth, question our relationship with time, history, and memory. Finally, Stéphane Lavoué takes us back to France, to the Bigouden region, with a poignant series on seafarers, between tradition and social change.
Alongside all these big names, the festival also showcases emerging and local perspectives. Students from the Saint-Augustin College in La Gacilly participated in a photography workshop led by photographer Nathalie Bardou. Their fresh images question our relationship with ecology, everyday life, and rural spaces. This is a way to anchor the festival in its local area while sowing the seeds for a new generation of photographers.
This diversity of perspectives, territories, and techniques is what makes the La Gacilly festival so rich. “Our guiding principle is people in their environment. But we also want the public to discover new visual forms,” summarizes Cyril Drouhet. A successful bet, as the works on display speak to all the senses and leave a lasting impression on people’s minds. “When you welcome 320,000 visitors a year, you have to consider all sensibilities. Some come for the photojournalism, others leave moved by artistic photography.” At La Gacilly, emotion is out in the open.
The La Gacilly photo festival is on view until October 5, 2025. More information here.
