Meditate with Amélie Chassary (born in 1980)

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men who came before you. Look for what they were looking for. The advice of the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) is undoubtedly the most beautiful invitation to send to an artist.

At Corrèze photographer Amélie Chassary, the call of the master specialist in haikus was heard. It is to him that she pays homage in a series of works entitled Praise of sobriety.

In the manner of the Dutch painters of the Grand Siècle, his compositions form delicate still lifes. A fine light comes here to caress the edges of a red vase, angular and empty, and the ripe, round flesh of yellow and purple plums. Nothing seductive then. Nor interesting in itself. Just the welcome of reality, simple, sober, true.

This is the subtle art of hosomi, one of the four pillars of the shofu style to which Matsuo Basho was initiated in his time: loving humble things to discover their beauty. An art that the photographer in turn gives us as an invitation to inner contemplation.

The hurried mind then slows down. The curious calms down. The dominator returns to his place. Time does its job, between summer and autumn, recalling the ephemeral season of these ripe fruits, and the long time of ceramics and its earth. Eternity of every moment.

To have within the Festival Contact Boards from Deauville (Calvados). Until January 4, 2026.