Julie Bourges
France • Born: 1981
Tales from the Small Sea and the Great Land 

It is said that long ago, the fairies were driven from the forest of Brocéliande (the legendary name for the Forest of Paimpont in Brittany), long associated with Arthurian myths and enchantments. It is also said that they shed so many tears that the Gulf of Morbihan was created. They cast their flower crowns into the water, and from these sprang the gulf’s three hundred and sixtyfive islands: one for every day of the year. Three of the crowns drifted far out into the ocean to form lands in the open sea. The most beautiful of the three, belonging to the queen of the fairies, became Belle-Île-en-Mer, while the other two gave birth to the islands of Houat and Hoëdic.

Brittany - and Morbihan in particular - has, since ancient times, nurtured some of the most mysterious, dazzling, fantastical legends. Locals say that when night falls over the forest of Brocéliande, magical beings rise from the streams to reclaim the places they once called home, before the humans arrived. Sprites and mischievous korrigans dance around the standing stones, the souls of Morgane, Viviane, and valiant Arthurian knights wander through the thickets, and the ancient trees still echo with the spells of Merlin the Enchanter.

It is this land of myths and legends that Julie Bourges chose to revisit for a commission from the Morbihan Departmental Council. Winner of the 2023 “Photography Residency” Prize awarded by the Fondation des Treilles, Rennesbased photographer Bourges delights in working at the crossroads between mythological narratives and contemporary figures, creating images that drift between abstraction and dreams. Drawing inspiration from filmmakers such as Federico Fellini and Theo Angelopoulos, and writer Italo Calvino, Bourges composes minimalist, fragmentary, intimate scenes that leave room for the viewer’s imagination to come to life.

For this photographic essay, Julie Bourges went in search of the heirs of those legendary fairies: the women of today who move between timeless, otherworldly spaces. Bourges’ work becomes an invitation to reenchant the landscape we thought we knew so well. Venture, if you dare, along the forest paths, but take care: the roots of these old oaks could easily be mistaken for dragons’ claws.

This commissioned photography project was produced with the support of the Morbihan Departmental Council. 

Jardin de l'Aff.