Digital Screens - Gestes Gitans Perpignan

Auckland Festival of Photography Trust is pleased to present the work of Award winning photojournalist, Jeanne Taris, France. There are six or maybe seven thousand Gitans living in the Saint-Jacques district in the historic heart of Perpignan. In this network of little streets and lanes, the houses are dilapidated, sometimes insanitary; the children are outside until late at night, few go to school.

The women, sitting on folding chairs on their doorsteps, watch them play; the men, often absent, take a siesta or hang around in the local squares. For years, drugs have ravaged the young people. The evangelical churches, as active as they are conservative, trying to guide inhabitants of the locality. In Saint Jacques few people work, due to intergenerational low socio economic situation and lack of opportunities. Since September 2016, Jeanne has made regular visits to the St. Jacques district - meeting people from the neighbourhood, sharing meals, spending nights together, accompanying them as they go about their everyday lives.

In July 2018, she carried off the Leica International Portfolio Award at the Festival Voies Off in Arles. Since then her Awards and accolades have included Kuala Lumpur International Photo Awards, Maghreb Photography Awards, Invitée d'honneur journées du reportage 2019, Cuba Libre, Copenhagen Photo Festival, Finaliste des photographies de l’année - APPPF plus more with her work in exhibitions in Malaysia, Italy, Arles 2019 and Nuit De La Photo, Lausanne.

Attending the Festival with the support of the French Embassy, and hosted by Leica NZ, this talented French photojournalist, Jeanne Taris will be giving a talk at 5pm on Thursday 29th May and then again at 12pm on Sunday 31st May about her work. NB: Friday 29th May & Sat 30th May due to an event clash, this work will be only viewable from outside the Ellen Melville Center. Helen Clark Room Window only.