Located in the old village of Mougins’ former presbytery, the very new Center of Photography is devoted to still and moving image. It aims at supporting contemporary photography in all its diversity, organising artist residencies, and offering educational activities.

Located in the old village of Mougins’ former presbytery, the very new Center of Photography is devoted to still and moving image. It aims at supporting contemporary photography in all its diversity, organising artist residencies, and offering educational activities.

Programme

© Bayeté Ross Smith Who Is a Threat? Who Is a Victim? 2020
© Bayeté Ross Smith Who Is a Threat? Who Is a Victim? 2020
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Post-Racial Little Boy, 2015
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Post-Racial Little Boy, 2015
© Bayeté Ross Smith Mirrors Study 3: Rixy, 2010
© Bayeté Ross Smith Mirrors Study 3: Rixy, 2010
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Our Kind of People, Part Eleven: Mirlande Mersie, 2010
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Our Kind of People, Part Eleven: Mirlande Mersie, 2010
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Our Kind of People, Part Twelve : Rahn Broady, 2010
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Our Kind of People, Part Twelve : Rahn Broady, 2010
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Our Kind of People, Part Twenty-Three: Marvin Galloway, 2010
© Bayeté Ross Smith, Our Kind of People, Part Twenty-Three: Marvin Galloway, 2010

Beyond appearances, Bayeté Ross Smith

Often, what we see in front of us is preconceived.

Often, what we see in front of us is preconceived. Representations of the other or others are reduced to a few simple and reductive formulas. Common sense attributes physical and behavioural characteristics that are perpetuated unchallenged. Societies and individuals rely on stereotypes to diminish reality. Bayeté Ross Smith, an African-American artist, bases his work on the strength and constancy of prejudice: on what could be called the pre-viewed. In his staged photographs, characters are given different personalities depending on their attitude, their appearance and occasionally their words. It becomes difficult to know what the true “nature” of these individuals really is. Society, in particular American society, has a tendency to essentialise, in other words to reduce people to a trait considered significant. By generalising, we distort and thereby turn characterisation into the definition of our own identity by distancing others from ourselves.

“Bayeté Ross Smith: Beyond Appearances” is the second part of an African-American trilogy. It follows the exhibition “Stephen Shames: Comrade Sisters / Women of the Black Panther Party” and will be followed in the summer of 2025 by “Kwame Brathwaite: Black is Beautiful”.

Access

Centre de la photographie
43, rue de l’Église
06250 Mougins
+33 (0)4 22 21 52 12
www.centrephotographiemougins.com

The Mougins Center of Photography is open year-round during exhibition periods, closed January 1rst, May 1rst and December 24th and 25th.

April – September : 11:00 – 19:00
Closed on Tuesdays

October – March : 13:00 – 18:00
Closed Monday and Tuesday

How to get there?

  • By car : Motorway exit 42
  • By bus : Palm Bus R5, n°26, n°28, Stop: Mougins Village

Locate other art venues in the vicinity on the map.

Discover our address book

PLACES TO DISCOVER

Un moment chez mémé : friendly bookshop-café in the heart of the Saint-Basile district.
Le doigt : sneaker customization workshop in Mougins village.
L’épicerie Coste : selection of local products, mostly organic or from sustainable and ethical agriculture.
Scène 55 : cultural center with theater, music school, art workshops and puppetry.
The Valmasque park and the Fontmerle pond : to discover during the lotus blossom season.
The Siagne canal walks : walking trail along the riverbank.
Notre Dame de Vie Music Festival : every summer in the gardens of Chapelle-Notre-Dame-de-Vie.