To wander is not to lose oneself, but to open up. It is to allow oneself to be surprised by unexpected encounters, to reveal fragile details, and to discover what escapes the everyday gaze.
WANDERINGS is the theme of the 17th edition of Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie. Artistic director Claude Goulet is bringing together guest artists around the ephemeral: a fleeting gesture, a posture, a passing light, a tension, a presence. It is no longer simply a matter of documenting, but of revealing a sensitive truth, at the frontier between the visible and the felt.
In this space, the image grows vibrant. Time seems suspended, and the ordinary moment transforms into a fragment imbued with meaning.
The summer festival will take place from July 15 to September 30, 2026, and will present 13 exhibitions across the Gaspé Peninsula. In total, around 20 artists – from Québec, Canadian, and international – will take over 11 municipalities, towns and national parks, spanning several hundred kilometers.
The flagship image of this edition highlights the work of French artist Géraldine Lay, a guest of this year’s program. Her series North End will be presented at the Vaste et Vague artist center in Carleton-sur-Mer from July 25 to August 23. Dedicated to the strangeness and magic of the United Kingdom, the project blends portraits and urban landscapes, capturing, in bursts of light and color, fragments of old Europe.
This exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Vaste et Vague artist center and with the financial support of the Consulate General of France in Québec City.
Japanese artist Ayumi Hayashi will be presenting her project Domyaku (The Veins of the Earth) in Marsoui. Through this series she explores the connections between land, memory and the cycles of life. Living in a rural village surrounded by nature and ancient ruins, she photographs everyday landscapes, revealing the subtle presence of time.
This exhibition is presented in collaboration with the FOTOZOFIO festival and with the financial support of the Japan Foundation.
Permission, framed photograph, 19.5 × 28 in, 2016.
Finally, Gaspesian artist Maryse Goudreau and curator Noémie Fortin will be featured at the Musée Le Chafaud in Percé, where they will present the exhibition In the Eye of the Beluga. For over a decade, Maryse Goudreau has devoted her work to this animal, building a vast archival body of work. Committed to accompanying the beluga in its slow decline, she develops a photographic, sonic, literary and sculptural practice imbued with empathy, offering a sensitive perspective on this species, a sentinel of northern climate change. The exhibition will run from July 2 to September 26.
This exhibit is presented in partnership with Galerie Foreman, the Musée Le Chafaud, the Vaste et Vague artist center, and Rencontres.
A highlight of the event, Rencontres on Tour, running from Thursday, August 20, to Saturday, August 22, 2026, will offer three days of screenings, guided tours and creative exchanges, entirely free and open to all. A must-attend event for art and nature enthusiasts. The program will soon be available on our website.
Stay tuned: the full festival program will be unveiled in May.
We warmly thank our partners, whose support makes it possible to circulate the works and bring artists to the region, so that art can continue to live and shine locally.
Top image : Géraldine Lay