Juliette-Andréa Elie
The award-winning photographer will receive a creative grant of €4,000 and accommodation at the Villa Salis in Sète from May 5 to July 5, 2025, to carry out her project “Ce que les nacres tissent” (“What mother-of-pearl weaves”). This creative proposal was unanimously acclaimed by the jury for its relevance and high standards, both in its approach to the subject and in the form proposed.
A presentation of the work in progress will be organized during the FLOW festival, a visual arts program focusing on social issues and the marine world, whose 1st edition, initiated by The Eyes, will take place in Occitanie at 4 heritage sites from September 25 to November 30, 2025.
The grant was created as a tribute to humanist photographer and sailor Ronan Guillou.
The third edition of the Ronan Guillou grant is supported by the city of Sète and M28 – Terres de culture.
French photographer born in 1985
Juliette-Andréa Elie was born in 1985, in the Auvergne volcano region. She is a graduate of the E.S.B.A.N.M in Nantes (DNSEP 2010) and Concordia University in Montreal. Her preoccupations center on the representation of landscape in the age of the Anthropocene, on the subterranean links that each of us maintains with our direct or fantasized environment, and on other members of the Living. Photography, drawing, painting, video and voice are all tools she uses, with a marked interest in the unique work, as opposed to the overabundance of reproducible objects.
Project developed: “ce que les nacres tississent
In this project, Juliette-Andréa Elie focuses on the Grande Nacre, an emblematic shellfish of the Mediterranean basin, now found almost exclusively in the Etang de Thau and the Gulf of Lion. This filter feeder, essential to marine biodiversity, is threatened by human activity and a devastating parasite. Through a series of field photographs, she aims to explore the active relationship between local scientists and this species.
The project also draws on a symbolic aspect: the precious sea silk, Le byssus, made from the filaments of mother-of-pearl, which is the subject of an ancestral craft. The photographer imagines a weft of golden threads, embroidery or weaving, partially covering her images. These writings, both poetic and documentary, open up the collective imagination in connection with
JURY
Annie Favier Baron, President, CPIE Bassin de Thau
Emmanuelle Hascoët, Curator, founder of FOVEARTS
Sophie Léron, President of M28 – Terres de culture association
Anne-Françoise Voisin, Maritime Heritage Officer, Direction de la Mer, Occitanie Region
Véronique Prugnaud et Vincent Marcilhacy,Founders The Eyes / Eyes Wide Open
CALENDRIER
5 MAY TO 5 JULY 2025
Residency in Villa Salis (Sète)
SEPTEMBER 2025
Presentation of the current project as part of the FLOW festival
2026
Final feedback (depending on project progress)
FINALISTS
David Bart Lalanne, France
Ismaël Bazri, France
Anaïs Boileau, France
De Vido Susanna, Italia
Maria Di Stefano, Italia
Amira Lamti, Tunisia
Laura Martin Person, France
Richard Pak, France
Romain Emile, France
Lynn SK, France / Algeria