Participatory Project - Vivants

“The separation between Culture and Nature is one of the defining characteristics of so-called modern society. But it is also—paradoxically—what has symbolically justified the destruction of our environment, by conferring upon it the status of the Other.”

In the face of the environmental crisis, new forms of social practices are emerging, particularly in agriculture. It is becoming clear that the harmful effects of intensive farming are too devastating: soil depletion, loss of biodiversity, pollution... All in all, it is obviously the economic system that needs to be rethought.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet producers and micro-communities who are experimenting with different forms of social organization and new ways of thinking about their relationship with their environment. These people are forging their own ways of relating to nature and challenging our conventional thinking. Rather than resorting to violent methods (plowing, chemical pesticides, etc.), they accept that they cannot control or dominate.

"For me, it is a matter of shifting the epistemological crisis unfolding today—rethinking the place of humans within the living world—into the realm of the sensory. The photographs serve as lyrical testimonies to a relationship with the living world grounded in gentleness." 

Matthieu Gafsou

This project was the subject of a publication and an exhibition at the Institut pour la photographie, as well as a traveling exhibition at various venues throughout the Hauts-de-France region.