EXPOSITION : Du bord de mer au Rugby des Antipodes
Patrick Braoudé, photographer

An exhibition for the Antipodes Festival.
In Saint-Tropez…
A question immediately arises.
What are the antipodes of Saint-Tropez?
The obvious answer: Normandy.
In Normandy, the colours are different, the sun is different, the sea is different, the food is different.
As a film buff, I remember « La Cuisine au Beurre », the film by Gilles Grangier, with wonderful Fernandel and Bourvil, one from the Mediterranean, the other from Normandy. A rivalry which becomes a long-lasting friendship. When we met in Villerville, Bernard Bories kindly asked me to exhibit my photographs in Saint-Tropez. Villerville, famous for « Un Singe en Hiver », and Saint-Tropez, famous for its « Gendarme »: two places forever associated with cinema. They are, for me as a film-maker, two mythical towns. So why not exhibit my photographs of Normandy in Saint-Tropez?
Together with a few photographs depicting the real Antipodes… Australia and New Zealand, through their emblematic sport, rugby. A sports enthusiast, I took some photographs during the most recent World Cup.
The Antipodes Festival offers me the opportunity to display them as well.
I am therefore a contented photographer. “

An actor, a screenwriter and a director, multi-talented Patrick Braoudé, who helmed films such as « Neuf mois », also has a passion for rugby and photography. While the beaches of Villerville and Deauville have caught his eye, he naturally turned his lens towards the Antipodes and their legendary teams, the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies, his portrayal of which is full of movement, colour, and energy. While the kinship with the Impressionists is immediately obvious, the mystery surrounding the characters captured by his benevolent and watchful eye also tells a story in the making. Be it at the seaside, with strolling holidaymakers, laughing bathers, a leaping dog, a sceptical seagull, or on the rugby field, with entangled players and their powerful sprints and tough fraternal confrontation, these frozen moments, like time bubbles ready to release the energy underlying each photograph, catch our fancy.

With the help from Sabrina Botbol and CinéToiles. Contact : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.