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
French Photographer
Where It All Began
From Berlin to Paris, from Polynesia to Slovenia and then Tuscany, I have gathered miles, encounters, and images.
Before telling my own stories through images, I first learned to reveal those of others.
I discovered photography in Berlin during the fall of the Berlin Wall, before continuing my training in the darkroom of the professional laboratory Pictorial Service in Paris, alongside Daniel Mordac, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s printer. There, I had the privilege of producing the master’s silver gelatin prints, as well as those of 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.
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.
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.
