In the spring of 2015, Vincent Mercier set out on a solo conquest of the American West. His destination: Monument Valley and John Ford’s Point — the very roots of the memory of the Navajo Nation as well as the memories of every moviegoer. In this ancestral landscape of unsurpassed beauty, rocked by the wind and a Hollywood soundtrack, the photographer relived his childhood of a “greenhorn Northerner,” entranced by the raw light which would “wash over him like a liquid.”
John Ford Point tells the story of this voyage in twenty-three photographs. More than a series of personal recollections or a paean to the panorama, the photographs offer limpid variations on this mythical valley which is said to have been John Ford’s favorite place. Everything here is on a human scale; everything is outlined to perfection; everything speaks of the disappearance and of time snatched from eternity. John Ford Point, published by Filigranes, is Vincent Mercier’s second book. It is also a tribute to America — uncut and in full color.
Brigitte Ollier
Brigitte Ollier worked for 30 years as a photography critic for Libération and is now an independent writer.
John Ford Point
Published by Filigranes Éditions
€ 30
