Exhibition by Italian photographers Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni at the Citadelle of Villefranche-sur-Mer

Beneath the dazzling spell of the Côte d’Azur—where the sea shimmers like molten glass and the mountains cast deep, enigmatic shadows—a quiet yet insistent question arises: what lies behind this light that enchants and devours all?

With their project “The Hidden Heart”, photographers Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni invite us to move beyond the Riviera’s sun-drenched facade and discover a more intimate, often invisible truth. This is a land long exposed to the world’s gaze, saturated with postcard perfection, yet pulsing with hidden realities just beneath the surface.

For over thirteen years, Caimi and Piccinni have walked a creative path that blends documentary photography and visual poetry, balancing reality with emotional insight. Their distinctive, human-centered approach becomes a lens for perceiving the unseen, far from any artificial narrative.

During two artistic residencies—first at the Centre de la Photographie de Mougins in December 2024, then at the Citadelle de Villefranche-sur-Mer in January 2025—the artists immersed themselves in this mythical coastline, seeking out its more elusive truths.

From Fréjus to Sospel, from the Lérins Islands to the hidden alleys of Villefranche-sur-Mer, they gathered fragments of a quiet identity: poetic yet tangible. The result is a photographic exploration that leaves behind the Riviera’s glossy image to enter a more metaphysical dimension, rich in glances, shadows, textures, and silences.

The project is the result of a collaboration between La Citadelle – Centre d’art & Musée and the Centre de la Photographie de Mougins. The exhibition “Le Cœur caché” by Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni is open to the public until April 27, at La Citadelle in Villefranche-sur-Mer.