"Bergères", Photographs by Vanessa Chambard

In May, for the^4th year running, the Orangerie du Jardin des Plantes is hosting an exhibition by artist Vanessa Chambard as part of the "Parallèle" section of the Boutographies festival, Montpellier's photography highlight.

After training at the Ecole des Gobelins, Vanessa Chambard started out as an advertising photographer, but quickly broke with that world. Arriving in Ardèche, she began working as a shepherdess. She pursues her photographic work, not as an end in itself, but as a means of exploring subjects that fascinate her, notably the links between humans and nature, inter-species relations and gender issues.

In the "Bergères" series, in which she combines text and photography, Vanessa Chambard delivers an intimate account that goes beyond pastoralism to address broader issues such as ecology, gender and work.