About
“Every man is torn between two needs; the need for the canoe, that is to say the journey of tearing oneself away from oneself, and the need for the tree, that is to say rootedness, identity; and men constantly wander between these two needs, yielding at times to one, at times to the other; until the day they understand that it is from the tree that the canoe is made.”
— Melanesian myth from the island of Vanuatu
Sébastien Joly
Photographer
Where It All Began
From Berlin to Paris, from Polynesia to Slovenia and then Tuscany, I have gathered miles, encounters, and images.
I began photography in the darkroom of the Pictorial Service laboratory in Paris, where I had the opportunity to print, in analog, the images of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Peter Lindbergh, and other exceptional photographers.
Before leaving for my military service in Tahiti, Henri Cartier-Bresson left me this humorous note. I’ve kept it ever since as a reminder of a formative period in my journey.
The Canoe
Then came video, the oceans, winding roads, Afghanistan.
The Tree
For a long time, I sought to capture reality as it presented itself.
Today, I feel the need to slow down. To build differently. A more composed, more personal photography. One that sometimes extends beyond the image.
Never Traveling Alone Again
Mana, my faithful companion, always finds a way to slip into the frame. And if you don’t see him… it’s because he’s lingering at the foot of an olive tree, tasting the fruit of a land he loves.
