Hyères 2006
It seems a bit unfair to post my first blog report from the 21st Festival International De Mode & De Photographie À Hyères with an image by one of the greatest historical fashion photographers -Saul Leiter- attached. After all, the annual fashion and photography festival, staged at Mallet-Stevens' charming, Modernist Villa Noailles each year, is dedicated to platforming and then nourishing new talent. They throw in a few special exhibitions for good measure, though, and it was great to see the much-overlooked Leiter (first photographer to exhibit a colour picture at New York MoMA) given some space of his own.
We've reported on Hyères before, in 2005, and it seems the SHOWstudio picture phone's reputation preceeds it. Apparently at one of the jury dinners last night, delegates have been discussing how to construct and perform secret scenarios to see whether they end up on the site!! Let's see if I can distinguish fashion fantasy from reality...