Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire is pleased to announce Samuel Gratacap’s first solo show at the gallery entitled “Plus Près”. For the occasion, and following his exhibitions “Les Naufragés” at the Arab World Institute (2015), “Empire at the Bal” (2015) and “Fifty-Fifty” during the Rencontres d’Arles (2017), we have decided to look back at seven years of work around the Mediterranean ring.

“I spent several years exploring territories marked by informal and temporary settlements, transitory stays and contemporary history: that of the roads of exile around the Mediterranean ring. We sometimes struggle to grasp the reality and diversity of the situations behind this major global phenomenon. During these years I worked in Italy, Tunisia and Libya, I met people who wrote and lived this history, people who witnessed and talk about it. Their stories and presence constitutes the framework of my photographic research.

This exhibition is a dialogue between various photographic works that give an overview of my travel and encounters. For the first time – since I deeply care about the singularity of places and their time-related context-, I chose to draw connections between images from both sides of the Mediterranean Sea. Here, my trip is the subject matter, plus près.”