Sephora Sponsors Immersive Photo Exhibit and Film About Women
Sephora has sponsored a photo exhibition paired with a film featuring 2,000 women from more than 50 countries, which is on display as part of the Jam Capsule, an immersive cultural experience in Paris.
The event is taking place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles trade show venue, where the Jam Capsule is hosting a series that also includes immersive experiences about Japan, legacy and the moon.
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“Woman,” the exhibit and film, were cocreated by Anastasia Mikova, a Ukrainian-born film director and journalist. While serving as editor in chief of the “Earth From Above” documentaries she began collaborating with the other cocreator of “Woman,” French photographer and director Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
Visitors to the exhibit first encounter 11 upright, rectangular screens, which introduce the concept and showcase still images of women in the movie. They hail from countries as far afield as Vietnam, Bolivia, South Korea, Denmark, the U.S. and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
These photos are rich in expression and color, and vary as much as the women in them.
Next door there’s a vast room with scattered benches, so people sit facing all directions, and curvilinear walls. During the 50-minute film, women’s images are projected onto them in all sizes. Some are still, others moving. Some videos are in the mix — think an American woman in cowboy attire surrounded by horses, or women engaged in native dance in Africa.
“Woman” also blends in women’s thought-provoking testimonials about subjects such as relationships to their appearance; discrimination and violence, including female genital mutilation; motherhood, and power.
The ”Woman” project dovetailed from Mikova and Arthus-Bertrand’s previous film, “Human,” which involved 800 interviews. Mikova noted how much women wanted to talk for that, and that once female interviewees felt comfortable enough to confide, there was a great feeling of release.
“Women are ready to speak out, so a window must exist for them to be heard,” said Mikova.
It took five years to pull together “Woman,” in which many women had told their stories for the first time and which had a soft launch on March 4, 2020, a week before COVID-19-related lockdowns in France.
Three years later, the Porte de Versailles location allowed for not just one screen, but multiple screens on to which the film could unfurl.
“The partnership with Sephora also seemed very natural,” said Mikova, noting most of the women appearing to be filmed were made up, well-prepared and feeling beautiful for such an important life event.
The film’s biggest takeaways, she continued, are women’s strength and resilience.
Guillaume Motte, chief executive officer of Sephora, said it took him just seconds to sign on to partner with “Woman.”
“Sephora today — it’s the expression of each [person’s] beauty, and indeed the strength of women through their beauty,” he said. “Everyone at Sephora is extremely proud to be associated with this beautiful work.”
“Woman,” which runs through May 7, chimes with Sephora’s overarching inclusive and diverse ethos, including its campaign, dubbed “The Unlimited Power of Beauty.”
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