Loco editions publish African Memories by Jean-Christophe Béchet. The latter sent us these few words:
Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Algeria… My first years of photography were African. Two long trips in 1987 and 1990 (including a crossing of the Sahara) framed a stay of more than 18 months in Yaoundé and Garoua. Back in France, “le voyage africain” (then provisional title) should have been my first book. But it was finally another project, “Electric Cités”, published in 2002 by Marval editions, which would become my long-awaited first book.
In 2022, Olivier Sultan, from the ART’Z gallery, specializing in African art and photography, became interested in this somewhat forgotten work and suggested that I exhibit them during the Rencontres d’Arles. The time had come to reclaim this youthful work. As we age, the images change status, some memories fade, others take over…
Today, most of the territories present in my “African Memories” are no longer accessible to a French or European visitor. Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, these countries that welcomed me so well with my backpack are now closed places. Timbuktu has become a forbidden city again. The economic world has become globalized. The world of travelers has shrunk… My generation dreamed of Ouagadougou more than Dubai. What remains are memories, memories and photography. It was another time, not so far away, not so close…
Jean-Christophe Béchet
Jean-Christophe Béchet : African Memories
Éditions Loco
22 x 28,5 cm
128 pages
110 photos
ISBN : 9782843141089
45 Euros
www.editionsloco.com
