On the French island of Porquerolles, 10 photojournalists backed by Fondation Carmignac exhibit their studies of hidden and intractable issues
Take the ferry from Hyères, on the French Riviera, to Porquerolles island, walk past the beach where Jean-Luc Godard shot the film Pierrot le Fou, wander through the government-protected, sculpture-dotted pine forest, remove your shoes and then descend to a subterranean gallery illuminated by sunbeams shimmering through a transparent swimming pool.
Here, in Fondation Carmignac’s newly opened private museum, you will find a portrait of Rita. Rita was 17 when the photojournalist Lizzie Sadin photographed her. A year before, she was living with her family near the foothills of the Himalayas. A friend told her of a life of opportunity lying in wait in
India, just a few hundred miles away. After crossing the border from Nepal, Rita was captured, imprisoned and forced into a life of sex work for visiting tourists. Rita’s eyes blaze into the airy calm of Porquerolles island.