German luxury car manufacturer BMW has signed a partnership renewal with Recontres d’Arles, which is the number one photography festival in the world. The Bavaria-based firm has been associated with the festival for over half a decade now. BMW plays the role of opportunity giver at the festival, giving young and talented artists the chance to show what they have done from BMW Residency in partnership with Musee Nicephore Niepce. Natasha Caruana, the Residency winner of the year 2014, was given her maiden presentation.
The BMW Residency phenomenon came into existence around four years back when the car maker and museum expressed a common desire to promote and facilitate the best practices in photography. As a result of this, new spaces for creativity were found and created by the partnership. BMW Group Finance’s Chairman of Executive Board, speaking on the collaboration of car designers and photographers, said “It is with the same freedom of creativity, the same attention and sense of detail that our designers and engineers conceive our cars, inventing each day the technological innovations of tomorrow. The rational research and technological requirements are channelled and combined with artistic emotion. It is this synergy which makes this photography partnership a natural fit for BMW France. “
The winner of the 2014 BMW Residency, Natasha Caruana, is a photography artist based in London and is a senior lecturer at Creative Arts University in Farnham. Some of her work has gathered a lot of attention on an international level and also included for catalogues. One of her most recognised and noted work is “Coup de Foudre/At First Sight,” which depicts her experiences when she met her husband for the first time. Alongside the presentation of Caruana, the announcement for the winner of 2015 was also made. Following the inspection and looking over a 100 applications, Alinka Echeverria was declared as the winner.
