Between modesty and transgression, sexual identity at the heart of the Dior photo prize in Arles
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On the theme of face-to-face, the competition organized by Christian Dior Parfums invited ten young artists to introspection . The revelation of this 8th edition is the Dutchman of Ghanaian origin, Joel Quayson, and his almost silent video on the difficulty of being queer.
"How do you feel?" Only four words are spoken and repeated like a mantra in the voiceover of How do you feel?, Joel Quayson's 4-minute, 28-second video. It unanimously won over the jury of the 8th Dior Prize for Photography and Visual Arts for Young Talents with its poignant simplicity. The screen never leaves the face, round like a child's, and the ebony bust of this young artist born in 1997 in the Netherlands to a family from Ghana. He is at first as well-behaved as a boarding school student, with his navy sweater that evokes a uniform and the large silver cross that signifies his religious affiliation. With lowered eyes, he takes off his school sweater and white shirt. With wide eyes, he timidly places sequins in the corners of his eyes, one by one, gradually daring to use color, like a small step toward free will.
How Do You Feel? very directly depicts the dilemma that agitates the young man between what is expected of...
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