Polo Garat

"Polo was born in Soule in 1967, the most eastern region of the French Basque Country. His eye reflects the openness of a world traveller: Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America or California to better find his ancestral land near his friends, shepherds, restorers, hunters, men and women but also trees, bitumen and animals that give him this feeling of eternity. If he leaves his native country for motorcycle rides with his friends, he takes advantage of it to make images that connects him to the great epic of the American west of his dreams as a child but also the typical scenes of the films of the years 70.

The press often commissions him for the genuine and unclichéd photographic approach to his subjects, for his portraits, executed in a bare and uncomplaisant style that attempt to strip off the appearances and show the rawness of the soul. He is also a commercial photographer who regularly works hand in hand with advertising agencies.

Co-founder of the collective Odessa in Toulouse where he lives, his work is internationally exhibited. In 2005 he is a member of jury for Yann Arthus-Bertrand's prestigious Bourse 3P. He presented the first part of his "de la Soule" serie during Les Rencontres D'Arles in 2012 and continues to work professionally on topical subjects, realizes portraits of actors, singers, Works for the theater while pursuing a personal creation that saw the images in his two favorite cities at the Wheels and Waves festival in Biarritz and San Sebastian in 2014 and 2016."