Bilateral by Samuel Gratacap
Bilateral is a photographic work by Samuel Gratacap that explores the passage of exiles in southern Italy and the Alps. It captures landscapes and people on both sides of the border, while addressing geopolitical challenges and the crisis of migration management.
The book was published by Poursuite Edition in April 2023:
For several years, Samuel Gratacap has been visiting territories that bear the traces of a precarious, temporary occupation, of a passage and of a contemporary history: that of the paths of exile on the Mediterranean rim.
Bilateral echoes the presence – real or suggested – of exiles on the French-Italian border, and the question of their passage through this transalpine sector.
It is also a work on the landscape, on both sides of the border, the one that separates and unites us in turn. Samuel Gratacap tried to put his eyes on it and to listen to the people he met, in an effort to criticize the media images and the traditional representations that are proposed.
The photobook is designed by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine and features texts by Michel Agier. The only typeface used is Euclid Triangle. A special edition includes a copy of the book accompanied by a print (22×27 cm, numbered and signed on the back) in a die-cut slipcase.
Bilateral was shortlisted for the Paris Photo – Aperture PhotoBook Awards 2023, Arles PhotoBook Awards 2023, and the Athens Photo Festival Book Award 2024.
