Arts | Photographer portrays ‘passionate wine makers’

French photographer Jean-Yves Bardin is presenting in Macau the “Gueules de Vignerons,” (Portraits of Wine Makers) a photographic exhibition that portrays “special wine makers” according to the artist.
During Friday’s opening ceremony of the exhibition which took place at the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, Bardin said that “these are very special wine makers because they are passionate about their work, producing wine without any chemical product, just natural wine.”
The 43 wine makers portrayed also have in common the fact that they are all from the Anjou region, located in the lower Loire Valley, where wine is traditionally made in the most pure of forms.
As the artist explained, the works, done over the course of 5 years, aim to not only portray the faces behind the high quality wines they produce but also capture the process of this wine making across several seasons, “capturing the expression of the life in Loire Valley.” The author invites viewers to “get closer to the photographs and attend to the details.”
In the opening speech, the vice-president of organizer Alliance Française, Éric Sautedé, mentioned the importance of this exhibition, which portrays “something precious and important to promote that is also relatively new and trending in France, the return to the roots of winemaking.”
As Sautedé said, this exhibition is also “the start of a tour that the author will present in China.”
The portraits on display are part of a book titled “Vignerons d’Anjou, Gueules de vignerons” which was awarded the “Best French Wine Book in the world” in the Yantai, China Gourmands Awards in 2015. Bardin started focusing his work on vineyards and wine makers in 2011 in the Anjou region, studying their wine-­making techniques with low intervention farming, which shows their dedication and commitment to protecting the environment.
The exhibition will be on display at the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16 lobby until the end of March.