Some time ago, I revisited the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue, “Rivages”. I was struck by the spontaneity, the candor and the lightness of these people who go to the beach or walk along the banks. It is as if people were going to the beach to forget the daily problems.
I was thinking about my own relationship with the ocean, the beach.
Personally, I don't see this lightness, looking at my photos, like J-H Lartigue, of my friends, of spontaneous encounters, of people walking the sand and pebbles, of other emerging feelings.
Our relationship with the seaside has changed.
Now, we no longer go out to meet the ocean for the same reasons. We are more into introspection, time, relaxation...
We have lost a part of naivety over the last century. We have also lost a part of ignorance...
We have experienced things since the first “Rivages” of Lartigue; world wars, atomic bombs, segregation, multiple revolutions, cold war, the list is very long. This naivety, this candor, this lost ignorance perhaps leaves room for more knowledge, more responsibility...
And now, a certain heaviness emanates from the photos. At this place, meeting with the ocean, we can no longer move forward, we can walk on one side or the other, but inevitably we find ourselves faced with our choices, our thoughts, our history...
Escape is impossible.
This feeling, this awareness is palpable in New Zealand, Australia and Canada where the photos were taken.