Phil Le Gal
Days of Mercy
Phil Le Gal’s portrait (below) was selected for Portrait Salon 2014 and is part of his work entitled ‘Days of Mercy’, a study of the area Brittany in France. Phil was born and lived in Brittany until he moved to London in 2003. He graduated with an MA at the London College of Communication in 2014.
‘Brittany is a land of many beliefs, cults and traditions. Successively the territory of Celts, Gauls, Romans, Bretons and finally Francs, the peninsula boasts a particularly important cultural heritage. With thousands of places of worship and religious relics scattered across the region, Christian Catholicism is the de facto religion in Brittany. The Celtic peninsula offers a very pious face to visitors, a construct built upon hundreds of years of pagan beliefs. One of the most prominent illustrations of this fact can be seen during the ceremonies of the Pardon (French for Forgiveness).’
‘Every year local Catholic saints are celebrated across the region in an eclectic mix of superstition, religion and rites of pagan origin. For hundreds of years on the same Sunday, relics of saints are paraded around towns, in a procession which goes on sometimes for most of the day. Every Pardon is unique but the general aim is to ask forgiveness and redemption for committed sins from a particular saint. Every saint is a patron for a specific profession (lawyers, sailors, etc), an activity (travellers/pilgrims or more recently motorcycle riders) and even some for animals.’
‘The bulk of the season happens between May and September. During that time, every Sunday sees the celebrations of a saint. This culminates with the most fervent moment around the 26th July when many Pardons are dedicated to Saint Anne, patron of Breton people. Christian Catholics celebrate their religion in many different displays of faith. This heady mixture of tradition, religion and paganism seen at Pardon ceremonies remains an unique occurrence within the Christendom still to date and only visible in Brittany.’
‘The project Days of Mercy attempts to decode the practice of ancient religious rituals deeply buried in the heart of brittany and equally to Breton’s psyche. It also tries to answer questions about the role and place of this ongoing traditions on today’s Breton’s culture as well as documenting and revealing the various forms that the Pardons can take. With a church congregation losing its appeal it is feared the next generation might not be able to perpetuate these century old practices.’
Phil Le Gal is a French documentary photographer who specialises in documentary, reportage and portraiture. Much of his practice stems from his interests in the contemporary social, environmental and globalisation issues. After training in photography at London Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and later graduating with a Diploma in Arts and Design Digital Photography he has completed a Masters in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication.
James O Jenkins