For her latest series, Kourtney Roy collaborated with composer Mathias Delplanque to create a visual and musical road trip that explores Rimini, an Italian seaside resort. The pair visited the location out of season and emptied of any soul. In Roy’s signature style, her images depict the surreal adventures of a whimsical female character, roaming an eerie town devoid of human presence.

‘Last Paradise’ is the winning project of the sixth edition of the ‘Swiss Life 4 Hands’ prize. The work will be exhibited at l’Aire during Les Rencontres d’Arles, presented in Paris at the Jeu de Paume, and published with Editions Filigranes in a bespoke photobook that holds a 45 RPM vinyl insert. Between melancholy and allure, this obscure journey plunges the viewer into a sensory narrative with a hyperreal aesthetic.

First, find a place you want to go to
And then find a reason to go there.
Follow your instinct,
Let intuition and impulse guide you.
You can always justify why later.
Rimini, Italy:
A marvelous wonderland,
A colossal snow globe,
A world within a world.
At the end of the world, time no longer exists.
The final vacation,
Paradise last.

The ‘Swiss Life à 4 mains’ prize was created in 2014 by the Swiss Life Foundation. Unique in France, the prize rewards an artistic duo – a photographer and a composer – every two years. The pair sets for an artistic adventure, a daring fusion between photography and music, creating an original piece for the prize. The frozen images and the moving notes complement and transcend each other, giving birth to hybrid works and new sensory experiences.