This is a real annual event and, as time goes by, has become something of a much-need milestone.Because it continues to surprise us with its wanderlust, taking us on a journey of discovery, giving us a better view of the state of photography across the world. Still published in large format and beautifully laid out and printed, L’Insensé take stock of photography of one country or one area of the world.
This year’s edition is thus devoted to Latin America. The publication’s very simple yet chic black and white cover features the portrait of a young girl photographed by Uruguayan Gustavo Ten Hoever. This sets the tone for the rest of our discovery as we realise that only rarely do we have a chance to see work from that country.
While there are some familiar names – and some clever, even surprising choices – and some internationally renowned photographers, the focus really is on discovery. It is not restricted to one particular school or theme, but covers the full range from documentary to fantasy, from poetry to graphic experimentation, from landscape to street photography . It gives space to different forms of expression that the review’s careful layout transforms into a set of unexpected dialogues. This is all the more fascinating in that, ultimately, the wealth of portraits and the different ways they are processed reaffirms a deep truth: South America continues to question its identity, caught between its native populations and its cultural melting pots, in all its diversity. And it does this with no sense of nostalgia, with colour images taking precedent to set off the black and whites, which may be fewer in number but which are very pure, rooting them firmly in the present.
One to keep on your bookshelf alongside , other rare treasured publications .
Christian Caujolle
