La Dolce Nizza: Seeing Nice Through the Sensual Lens of Claudia Bevilacqua

 

There are countless ways to photograph Nice, but few capture the city’s atmosphere quite like black-and-white photography. Beneath the postcard images of turquoise water, colourful façades and brilliant Mediterranean sunshine lies another Nice — more intimate, more cinematic and considerably more seductive. That is the Nice explored in “La Dolce Nizza”, the exhibition by photographer Claudia Bevilacqua, currently on view at the Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre in the heart of Vieux Nice.

The exhibition runs only until 6 September 2026, making it one of those Riviera cultural experiences that should be moved toward the top of the list before summer disappears and the autumn season begins.

Rather than presenting Nice simply as a beautiful destination, Bevilacqua’s photography offers a more personal interpretation of the city. Through black-and-white images, she strips away much of the visual noise associated with the Riviera and allows the architecture, streets, people and atmosphere to take centre stage. The absence of colour is particularly effective in a city that is otherwise famous for colour. Without the familiar blues, yellows and pinks, Nice becomes something altogether different.

There is a cinematic quality to the work, and that feels entirely appropriate for a city that has spent more than a century attracting artists, writers, photographers, filmmakers and people fascinated by the Mediterranean lifestyle. Nice has always had a talent for performing for the camera, but Bevilacqua’s photographs suggest that the city’s real character is often found away from the obvious tourist spectacle.

Women and the female presence within the city are an important part of the exhibition’s visual language. There is a sensuality to the photographs, but it is not necessarily the polished, luxury-oriented sensuality often associated with advertising images of the Côte d’Azur. Instead, the photographs can feel spontaneous and intimate, capturing moments and gestures that suggest lives being lived rather than a destination being marketed.

That distinction matters. Nice is, of course, one of the world’s most photographed Mediterranean cities, and visitors arrive with a mental catalogue of images already in their heads: the Promenade des Anglais, the Baie des Anges, the colourful buildings of the Old Town and the palm-lined waterfront. Bevilacqua’s approach encourages viewers to look again. Her Nice is not necessarily the Nice found on a tourism brochure. It is a city of shadows, expressions, movement, texture and fleeting encounters.

The choice of the Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre is equally fitting. Located in Place Pierre Gautier in Vieux Nice, the museum is dedicated to photography and regularly presents exhibitions exploring both historic and contemporary photographic practices. Its location also places visitors directly in one of the city’s most atmospheric neighbourhoods, making a visit to the exhibition easy to combine with an afternoon wandering through the narrow streets of the Old Town.

And that may ultimately be the best way to experience La Dolce Nizza: not as an isolated museum visit, but as an invitation to reconsider the city outside the gallery.

After seeing Nice through Bevilacqua’s lens, step outside and walk. Wander through Vieux Nice. Look at the balconies, doorways and cafés. Watch people moving through the streets. Notice how the afternoon light changes the façades. Walk toward the sea and watch the city gradually open onto the Baie des Anges. Perhaps, for a moment, try to imagine what these same streets would look like without their Mediterranean colours.

That is one of the pleasures of photography. A good photograph doesn’t simply show you somewhere you already know; it can make you realise that you haven’t been looking closely enough.

For residents, La Dolce Nizza offers another perspective on a familiar city. For visitors, it provides an opportunity to move beyond the standard Riviera itinerary and see Nice through a more artistic and intimate lens. And for anyone fascinated by photography, fashion, beauty, urban life or the enduring mythology of the French Riviera, it is a particularly appealing exhibition.

But there is a deadline.

“La Dolce Nizza” remains at the Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre only until 6 September 2026. With the final weeks of summer approaching, this is one exhibition worth putting on the calendar rather than leaving on the increasingly dangerous Riviera list of “things I’ll get around to.”

Nice has been photographed thousands upon thousands of times. The challenge is no longer finding another photograph of the city. The challenge is finding a photograph that makes you see it differently.

Claudia Bevilacqua may just have done that.