Karl Lagerfeld's visionary aesthetic extends far beyond couture; therefore, it's hardly surprising that the house of Chanel was invited as a guest of honour at the 30th Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography at the Villa Noailles.
A diverse jury including HRH Princess of Hanover, model and producer Caroline de Maigret, photographer Sølve Sundsbø and designer Anthony Vaccarello chose from more than 300 entries from over 60 nationalities. Seven entries from each of the categories were shortlisted.
Sjoerd Knibbeler of the Netherlands was awarded the Grand Prize by Photography jury, whereas The Première Vision Grand Prize for fashion went to designer Annelie Schubert. Indian photographer Sushant Chhabria was one of the seven shortlisted photographers and won the Special M Le Monde award.
Vogue catches up with him on his return from the South of France.
Tell us about the work you exhibited at the festival? My work exhibited at Hyères titled 'In loving memory of' is a series of 17 miniature portraits that have been constructed (not photographed) by recycling snapshots of dead people. In a way, I get back people from the dead by changing their physical identities, exactly like the belief of reincarnation. I use the facial features, hair, clothes of the dead to create or give birth to new beings that may or may not exist.
How was your experience at the 30th Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography? The great advantage at Hyères is that they’re not looking for fashion photography, but really looking for people who are diverse in their approach to photography and have the ability to surprise viewers with their original vision. It's a tough competition because every photographer is so special and so likeable.
What were your takeaways from the jury? The Hyères festival is a great way to get noticed if you have something important to say. I was really looking forward to meeting Kamel Mennour from the jury, we spoke for almost an hour and it was great. He was impressed by my work and extremely encouraging towards my future plans as an artist. Eric Pfrunder from Chanel was particularly impressed by the way I use colour in my work.
