l'oeil de la photographie : Polyptyque : Julia Gat : khamsa khamsa khamsa

Khamsa khamsa khamsa—“five” in Arabic, repeated three times like a protective incantation—is an autobiographical visual narrative in the form of a family archive. At first glance, Gat tells the story of her childhood and adolescence growing up with alternative educational methods, with portraits of her siblings, friends and domestic scenes. However, underneath these family album-like images, a photographer’s writing emerges. Gat tells her story by gradually defining her way of capturing the faces and growing bodies of those around her, often in peaceful Mediterranean landscapes. “When I was ten, I promised myself never to forget how children see the world,” she says. “Everything is new. Imagination blends with reality and the unknown is exciting.” Documenting her everyday life is the running thread of the artist’s work, allowing her to connect the adult photographer to her child sensibility.