Her name: Anne-Sylvie Bameule. She is the daughter of Jean-Paul Capitani and stepdaughter of Françoise Nyssen now Minister of Culture. Therefore she is part of the third generation of this amazing family saga that created Actes Sud, one of the best publishing houses in France, especially in the photographic field. She directs the Art, Nature and Society sectors of the company.
In Arles, this week Actes Sud is introducing four books: the Festival catalogue, the Magnum Manifesto, a photographic investigation into Monsanto by Matnieu Asselin and a book entitled Seeds of the World by Mario del Curto about the Vavilov Institute, named after the scientist from the last century who had foreseen the disappearance of plant biodiversity. In a few dozen years of study and travel throughout the world, he had found the means to safeguard about three hundred and thirty thousand specimens of seed catalogued, preserved, regenerated. For political and ideological reasons, Nikolai Vavilov was condemned to die of hunger in the cellars of a prison.
Anne-Sylvie Bameule is particularly proud of these last two books. “Hubert Nyssen, our house’s founder had defined two fundamental ideas for publishing a book: the pleasure and its necessity. With Monsanto, you have the denunciation of what is currently one of the gravest threats to our world, one of the most untouchable brand and company, and one of the most difficult subjects to tackle, given the incredible power of their lobbyists. And of the other,about one individual who alone saved all of the known seeds in the world by cataloging and restoring them because one seed not used each year is one dead seed.” Anne-Sylvie Bameule also confided her great love for Sarah Moon photography!
For the end of the year, Actes Sud will publish two beautiful photography books by photographers Dorothy Shoes and JR.
Jean-Jacques Naudet
