COVER N. 280 - FRANCE

Postmark: Festivals de Méditerranée - Arles Les recontres de Photographie  - Premier Jour - Euromed Postal  07.07.23

Posted on the 7th July; Received on the 11th July 2023

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I have to say that the first thing I think about at the mention of Arles, is Van Gogh's ear, and this because of a beautiful poem by Portuguese poet Reinaldo Ferreira, called Rosie, which I've known by heart since I was a kid, that manages to bring into the train of thought of  someone who, "nauseated and drunk" speaks silently to Rosie, his friend or lover.

But Arles is not famous only for being the place where the great painter who never lived to see the recognition he totally deserved, in a gesture of despair and anger fuelled by an altercation with his friend Gauguin, mutilated himself. The "Rencontres de Photographie", first organised in 1970 by local photographer Lucien Clergue, writer Michel Tournier and historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette. and since them taking place every year in the summer,  have earned a well aknowledged place at world level for all those interested in this form of artistic expression.

The 2023 theme for the Euromed common issue being Mediterranean Festivals, La Poste chose this important artistic event to showcase on the very nice 1,80 stamp issued on 07JUL2023, that constitutes the French emission and which Pierre and Eric so kindly sent me as FDCs.

Thanks a lot!