
A point of view
Around the turn of the 19th century a certain abbot Fouré indulged himself for more than ten years in a folly of excess. Over a surface of many square meters he changed the face of the sea coast at Rothéneuf, St. Malo, by sculpting more than 300 figures close to each other in the rocks. When I stood in the middle of them and looked around, I thought this is madness. The site is seen as a curiosity, an example of primitive art.
The photo above does not do justice at all to the character and dominant impression of the abbot’s work. I was interested in something else: in the simple combination of the nature of the rocky coast and the fact that the rocks have been touched by human hand. For this I had to choose my position on the edge of the sculpted surface, keeping the abundance of figures almost completely out of sight.
This is what photography often is about. By deciding what to bring into the frame and what to leave out, the photographer creates an image of a certain reality, a certain image of a certain reality. It is a matter of choice, of ideas, of world view. In the case of this photo, as with many others, it is not so much choosing the right moment, but choosing the right position that leads to the desired outcome.
Photo of the week: Les Rochers sculptés de Rothéneuf, St. Malo, France, 1999
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