For three weeks in September, photography transforms the Swiss town of Vevey, its picturesque streets providing the backdrop for images like Pretty Woman by pioneering Japanese street photographer Daido Moriyama.
Since 2008, Biennale Images Vevey has established itself as Switzerland’s leading visual arts festival, as well as standing as an international benchmark for contemporary photography.
Every two years Images Vevey turns the town into a gallery, exhibiting a unique collection of made-to-measure indoor and outdoor photography designed to invite visitors, free of charge, to experience images in a different way.
This ninth edition of the Biennale Images Vevey began on 07 September and runs until 29 September.
Through monumental installations and scenography the 2024 festival looks at the unprecedented gap between past and future created by digital technology. With over 50 artists from 22 countries, expect to see nostalgia, intimate memories, Mr Blobby, David Bowie, and Indian magic.
Aleksandra Mir’s giant inflatable aeroplane is housed in a beautiful neo-baroque room, accentuating the paradoxes between the metal of the hangers it’s usually housed in.
Photographs printed on fabric sheets hang from trees, displaying distorted self portraits of artist Marion Zivera in an attack on idealized and AI-generated bodies, while in a car park, thanks to AI, Maisie Cousins has recreated the grotesque characters from Blobbyland, the 1990s theme park inspired by the UK character Mr Blobby.
In another outdoor space, Romain Mader exposes the marketing strategies of fast fashion websites that drive consumerism in a wry commentary on overconsumption and technological dependence.
Vevey is also home to the Swiss Camera Museum, which exhibits the history of photography over the last century. It is currently hosting a retrospective exhibition of the career of Life Magazine photographer Phillipe Halsman, with his work and personal belongings photographed by Henry Leutwyler.
If this has inspired you to take your own photographs, take a look at our guides to the best cameras for beginners, the best cameras for professionals, and the best travel cameras.
