In Between | Entre deux mondes

The idea of the voyage, whether literal or metaphorical, is an integral part of my work. Travel cross-pollinating with the imagination so that reality and the imaginary fuse into something entirely unexpected and unique. I have always loved travelling by ferry. It hints at exotic escape, even when the destinations remain domestic enough to be practical and affordable. Coming from a family of modest means, the ferry journey always felt like a sort of working-class cruise. It offered a small window of time and opportunity that was cut off from the rest of the world, in buoyant anticipation of mysterious new destination, free from the constraints and conventions of “normal” life. No traffic, construction, offices, appointments, or schools. All the mundane obligations were put on pause, regardless of whether the journey was for pure pleasure, for more practical reasons, or even some dire and dreadful purpose. I feel to this day an extravagant and unexpected sense of freedom and leisure as the boat leaves both shore and reality behind. I am endlessly fascinated by the hermetic experience that ferry travel engenders, albeit for a limited period. With it comes that rare gift for a photographer: a sense of ephemeral anonymity concurrent with insular intimacy.

This photography was produced as part of the major national commission "Radioscopy of France: views on a country crossed by the health crisis" financed by the Ministry of Culture and directed by the BnF.

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