Latvia Goes for Gold

Marite Mastina and Rolands Peterkops

Every year in the end of April the eyes are turned to the Villa Noailles, the centerpiece of early French modernist architecture  located in the south of France in the small town of Hyères that hosts the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie. But this year all eyes went straight from Hyères to Latvia, home country of Marite Mastina and Rolands Peterkops who won both the Festival’s Grand Jury Prize and the 1.2.3 award for their collection “Private detective,” which used a detective’s stereotypical clothing as a starting point.

Founded 24 years ago by festival director Jean-Pierre Blanc, the Hyères Festival is a collection  exhibitions that features ten designers and ten photographers, who compete in different prize categories: The Grand Jury Prize fro L’ORÉAL Professional and the 1.2.3 award both give 15000 Euro in prize money and one year scholarship at the New York School Of Visual Arts for photography. They’re also a showcase for a distinguished jury that included Kris Van Assche, Gert Jonkers and Nan Goldin; this years winners join Viktor & Rolf, Christian Wijnants, and Sølve Sundsbø. Swiss photographer Linus Bill won the photo scholarship to study at SVA.