Piémanson

“Piémanson” is an exploration of daily life on the last wild beach in France. The beach’s history began in the 1970s when locals set up camp there with no rights or deeds. Nowadays, thousands of campers from all over Europe get together every summer season, looking for a freedom that they can’t find anywhere else. The official line is that the campers can stay for one night without charge but many stay for the entire summer and in that time they construct some amazing structures using wood, plastic sheeting, etc. There is a lot of pride in the community for making the best possible ‘homes’ for their stay. There is also a lot of ingenuity and creativity. It has to be mentioned that the community at Piémanson who have been coming to live here for free on the beach since the 1970s are not hippies nor are they gypsies – they are regular families who cannot afford vacation’s elsewhere and see a great opportunity to live on a beach for the summer and decide to act upon it.