Image Festival #4 — Together

The creation of this Festival is the result of three major observations, immediately identified as soon as we consider the place of pictures in the Jordanian society. First observation: the place of pictures in the Arab world is unequal, mainly due to traditional religious reasons. On the other hand, the use of screens has been widely generalized within few years (TV satellite, internet, smart phone) without letting time for a « culture of pictures » - with all its codes, keys for reading and interpretation - to install itself. Despite this modest familiarity with pictures, political crises and conflicts have largely contributed to impose “news pictures” (informational and documentary pictures) inside the homes. Pictures are usually associated to these facts only. Finally, the last observation concerns the photographers themselves. Here, in Jordan, authentic talents have adopted photography as a way for artistic expression. However, this missing knowledge that we just mentioned, is an obstacle to the circulation and good development of the artist?s works. It was necessary to remediate to this situation. A festival seemed a good occasion to make all this possible. —Charles-Henry Gros