In his extensive book, Desert, the renowned photojournalist delves into his love and knowledge of this arid territory that has guided his entire life. His words, along with those of 2024 Prix Goncourt winner Kamel Daoud, accompany a collection of previously unseen photographs reminiscent of another era.
Raymond Depardon says it himself: along with the peasants in France, it’s a favorite subject in his career as a photographer. The desert. Where he went for the first time in August 1960. In one shot, we see him on a plane, at the age of eighteen, taking off for this destination that would become so important in his life. “It was extremely hot, over 40°C, and you had to drink five to ten liters of water a day to survive,” he notes as the young photographer in him arrives in Hammaguir, Algeria, where an army captain is looking for his contingent who have gone gazelle hunting and asks for help. Raymond Depardon documents the rescue of these young soldiers suffering from terrible dehydration in the heart of the Sahara.
Whether in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Chad, or Mali, the photographer pursues the goal of immortalizing these areas, both hostile and imbued with a unique charm. It is also there that tragic and political events take place, in particular the Claustre affair, named after the French archaeologist Françoise Claustre, kidnapped by armed forces in northern Chad in 1974, which Raymond Depardon makes a point of covering, notably the negotiations carried out by the archaeologist’s husband.
“I like this sand.”
The desert is thus a place full of dangers. The thirst that overcomes you, the sun that beats down on you, but also, and above all, the armed groups that prowl everywhere. Machine guns are legion in Raymond Depardon’s photographs. The photographer has forged his way through this unique territory, capturing images that remain, like this truck loaded to the brim with belongings and Tuaregs on the roof heading towards Libya, or this caravan of dromedaries in the depths of Niger.
But it’s also the perspective of a man navigating a particularly unique space and enjoying it. This is evidenced by the frequent images Raymond Depardon took of his partner Claudine Nougaret, particularly in Mali, or those of filmmaker Franssou Prenant.
The photographer writes: “The desert can be something wonderful. It’s nice. You feel good. I like this sand, this space. And then very quickly, it can become something very frightening. Walls, like a psychiatric hospital. You don’t know where you are anymore. You don’t know where the trail is.”
Words that Raymond Depardon shared this Tuesday, July 8 at the Rencontres d’Arles. The Fondation Cartier organized a conversation with the photographer and Kamel Daoud, moderated by Stéphane Paoli, followed by a book signing on Tuesday, July 8 at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of the École nationale supérieure de la photographie (30, avenue Victor Hugo – 13200 Arles). A rare moment to hear Raymond Depardon, who, for more than sixty years, has surveyed the shifting lines of the world with a unique loyalty to the desert – this place that is both refuge and vertigo for the eye and the mind.
Jean-Baptiste Gauvin
Raymond Depardon: Desert
Editor Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
Languages English version
Format Hardback, 30.5 × 21.8 cm, 344 pages
250 black-and-white photographs
Design Atelier Dyakova
ISBN 978-2-86925-190-8
59 €
https://eshop.fondationcartier.com/en/products/raymond-depardon-desert-3
