Olympic spirit is the inspiration for this year's Urban Eye (L’Oeil urbain) photo festival in Corbeil-Essonnes outside Paris. Photographer in residence Cyril Zannettacci chose to celebrate amateur athletes through larger-than-life portraits in his outdoor exhibition "Citius, Altius, Fortius".
More accustomed to documenting social issues than sports, Zannettacci told RFI it was challenging to come up with a project that matched the festival’s theme.
First and foremost, he knew he wanted to find a way to put ordinary people on a pedestal by combining his loves of portraiture and the urban environment.
His collaborative project allowed him to meet sportspeople of all ages from the working-class suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes, some 30 kilometres south of Paris.
He photographed them practicing all sorts of sports, from billiards to pétanque, football to gymnastics to ping-pong.
Borrowing from a technique he used once before in a series on the fashion industry, he began by taking pictures of the athletes striking action poses in the studio against a black backdrop.
Then, he re-projected the studio images onto the walls of buildings around Corbeil-Essonnes at night and took a photo of each projection – a fun process he says got the whole community involved.
The result is a series of portraits of people leaping over cars, diving off footbridges and slam-dunking apartment balconies, like giants in their city playground.
Extraordinary athletes
“The idea is to pay homage to athletes in the shadows and amateur sports clubs and show how extraordinary they truly are,” Zannettacci told RFI.
“The participants were really happy, very invested and pleased that we were showing an interest in them and their sports,” he says, paying tribute to their dedication and passion.
Like sport, Zannettacci says, taking photos require patience, hard work and self-sacrifice.
He compares both to a marathon: you’re in it for the long haul, and you’ll have to try, fail and try again.
The title of his exhibition comes from the official OIympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius, Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger”.
In 2021, the International Olympic Committee also added the word Communiter – “Together”. That sits well with Zannettacci’s take.
For him, the Olympic Games are above all a chance to unite people from all walks of life and celebrate sport and its values.
But in practice, he says, the modern event doesn’t always achieve those goals.
Social inequalities
“I’m quite critical when it comes to the Games, especially in social terms in a country like this,” Zannettacci says, pointing to the high ticket prices for Paris 2024.
“I think it’s a great event for sport in general,” he insists. “It puts a spotlight on France and Paris, but there are other things happening that I find a bit shocking. I would’ve preferred to see a more inclusive event.”
He points to reports that students will have to move out of their lodgings to make way for Olympic visitors and homeless people “who will be made invisible” by being bussed out of Paris – a critique shared by human rights groups.
A seasoned photojournalist for the French and international press, Zannettacci has covered protests, natural disasters and the plight of refugees in France.
Represented by Agence VU' in Paris, he won the 2022 Caritas Photo Sociale Prize for his documentary series on a homeless shelter during the Covid pandemic.
The Urban Eye festival – made up of 10 free exhibitions, nine of them outdoors – is on until 11 May.
The guest of honour is Raymond Depardon, who shares his striking black-and-white photos of Olympics from Tokyo in 1964 to Moscow in 1980.
Corbeil-Essonnes is one of several towns in the local area that will host 24 disciplines, including basketball and table tennis, for the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this summer.
