I photograph people I find elegant.
Their elegance has nothing to do with fashion. Combining industrial clothing with traditional tribal elements (jewelry, scarification), these people exude simple grace. What I feel in these encounters is an awareness of being. They live differently than we do in Western societies, subject to the dictatorship of physical beauty. Here, beauty is an extension of the being, not its purpose.
It is this spontaneity that I look for in beauty. The people I meet in traditional societies in South Sudan, on the margins of capitalist society, show what happens when different social systems come together: the cultural mix is visible on their bodies. This is the creative process that interests me as a photographer.
>strong>Françoise Spiekermeier
This article is reserved for subscribed members only. If you are already a member, you can log in here below.
Subscribe for full access to The Eye of Photography archives!
That’s thousands of images and articles, documenting the history of the medium of photography and its evolution during the last decade, through a unique daily journal. Explore how photography, as an art and as a social phenomenon, continue to define our experience of the world. Two offers are available.
Subscribe either monthly for 8 euros (€) or annually for 79 euros (€) (2 months offered).
