LA VIE UN BLUE, NICE, FRANCE

I was lucky (and honestly a bit stunned) to win the International Photography Residency 2024 with La Vie en Bleu, Nice. I sent in a photo essay from India and found myself in France with one simple brief: walk the city, make a body of work, and mount an exhibition- in seven days.
I have never walked as much as I walked Nice that week. At first, everything felt intimidating. A new city, a new language, and the famously reserved French temperament. But the reality was the opposite. The people were warm, the city opened itself to me and then there was Ximena Echague- my mentor, cheerleader, gentle but firm voice saying, “Keep walking, keep looking.”
By the end of the week, somehow, magically, the work came together: women laughing at markets, sunbathers melting on the beach, legs, dogs, dresses, reflections, and the glorious everyday theatre of Nice.

If I could sum up the residency in one sentence:
Nice made me walk, people made me laugh, Ximena made me see, and the whole experience made me braver.

Residency: June 1–7, 2024 with mentor, internationally renowned photographer Ximena Echague.
Exhibition: June 8–30, 2024 at La Guard du Sud, Nice, France