Book: Saintes Maries de la mer

Jeanne Taris

A mother of four, Taris began photographing when she was seventeen but showed no one her pictures. She did not consider herself talented enough to study photography; but during a Leica workshop she met a photographer who encouraged her to show her work. This resulted in publi-cations in Polka and Vice, among others. In 2018 she won the Leica Gallery International Portfolio Award at the Voies Off festival in Arles.

​

Every year in May, thousands of gypsies from all over the world gather at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue, to venerate Black Sara, patron saint of gypsies. Jeanne Taris experienced the pilgrimage by camping among caravans. As chance would have it, she settled next to the family of the bearers of Saint Sara. They accepted her and she spent her nights, her days, living and sharing their daily lives with them. For 3 years, she has found them outside of the pilgrimage in their different places of life: house, grounds or on the road.

​