A new photography festival in France? Why not? There are many of them, and we had to find our own specificity, our own identity. Deauville has multiple facets: it is hospitable and known the world over, so why not invite photographers on residency and give them carte blanche, that is, to photograph the city and develop a personal work through their own perception of this Normandy town? From May 2010 to September 2011 seven photographers were hosted: established names such as David Armstrong, Charles Fréger, Lise Sarfati, Lars Tunbjörk and Massimo Vitali, or serious hopefuls such as Romain Meffre and Yves Marchand. All cast their gaze on a town most of them had never visited: portraits, landscapes, architecture, the horse world and of course the beach, but also the 2011 event, the G8. These varied, dense, sometimes intimate or funny pictures become the first elements of a fund that already forms the living memory of the town. Text by Patrick Remy, artistic director.