This Monday, December 11, the French leader in kibble for dogs and cats rewarded the winners of its Royal Canin Photography Award photography competition at its headquarters in Aimargues. The Sand of Noises duo composed of Marie Hervé and Elisa Martinez were the winners.
The Royal Canin brand is well known for its black and white portraits of dogs and cats taken from a collaboration with photographer Platon in 2015. In 2023 Royal Canin created the Royal Canin Photography Award, this competition invites international artists to celebrate the uniqueness of cats and dogs.
There were 1,000 applicants for the competition but only 4 selected to exhibit in the hall of the Royal Canin world headquarters in Aimargues. The Sand of Noises duo composed of Marie Hervé and Elsa Martinez, Geoffroy Mathieu, Bérénice Nouvel and Mathieu Roquigny presented their four series to the jury.
For Estelle Francès, member of the jury, exhibition curator and collector of contemporary art, “This international prize is an opportunity to demonstrate the commitment of artists to changing the public’s perception of the cats and dogs who share our daily”. The theme of the competition was to highlight the 4 dimensions of health
Royal Canin’s obsession: the physical, mental, social and environmental health of cats and dogs.
The selection was made with the help of a jury made up of five experts in the arts of photography and contemporary art.
Cécile Coutens, president of Royal Canin
“To put the dog and the cat first, we must look at them not with our prism as human beings but as they are. Photography and art in general allow us to see differently and to see these animals in their singularity, their universality and their environment. The dog and the cat first of all are what we also celebrate today and our ability to see them differently. Art and beauty have a role to play for us touch us as human beings and inspire us to see things differently.” says Cécile Coutens, president of the Royal Canin division and president of the Royal Canin Photography Awards (RCPA) jury.
1st prize of the ROYAL CANIN Photography Award goes to the Sand of Noises duo composed of Marie Hervé and Elsa Martinez for their series entitled Aura.
Photo from the series Aura, Sand of Noises 2023
Marie Hervé and Elsa Martinez have been working as a duo since 2020. Through their Aura series, they have opted for the bias of a series of photographs working the image with layers of colors and light irradiations, echoing the cat as a sacred animal and symbolic figure. The cat would be endowed with this telepathic sixth sense, capable of deep communication with its master, and detecting elements to which humans would not have access: change of energies, dangers, tiny movements and vibrations…
The 2nd Prize of the ROYAL CANIN® Photography Award (RCPA) is awarded to Geoffroy Mathieu for his series entitled Royal Bourbon.
Dog wandering is a massive phenomenon in Reunion: for nearly 80,000 dogs, “real life” takes place in the street, in ports, on beaches, roundabouts or in the forest. Geoffroy Mathieu went to meet these dogs who live, alone, in groups or in packs, alongside the people of Reunion, in the city or in peri-urban and rural areas. He followed them on their daily journeys and got to know them.
The Sand of Noises Duo will benefit from a grant of 10,000 euros, the production of a traveling collective exhibition but also a unique presentation at the AKC Museum of the Dogs in Manhattan, New York (from November 2023 to February 2024).
The second RCPA prize rewards artistic commitment to the animal cause in line with the founding values of Royal Canin: the health and well-being of cats and dogs around the world. Geoffroy Mathieu will benefit from a grant of 5,000 euros and the production of a traveling collective exhibition.
Read also : Picture exposition. With local artists, Nîmes rumbles under the lens – nimes in photos (lereveildumidi.fr)
2023-12-12 17:02:57
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