Night bodies

A series of seven black and white photographs taken in Bamako, Mali. Each of them presents a sapling found at night in front of a local mosque. The saplings are protected with a complicated arrangement made of domestic wastes such as tissues, sacks, plastic bags, straw mats and woods. The photos were printed in the size of human body.

Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth.

—— Albert Schweitzer

One night when I was in Africa, I took a walk before going to sleep. There was no light in the street. Crossing the moonlight and dust, I met several forms that were about my size. They were not moving, standing there silently. I watched them carefully. They look like something sacred, were they trees, or could they be graves?

I started doing research on pollution at that time, and I was not optimistic. Abuse of the use of natural resources causes various and serious problems on our planet. Mankind takes the risk of altering the balance of Gaia¹. We consume too much and too fast. Trees are cut for oil; wild forests are burned to replant other trees which grow faster and are easier to manage; millions of animals are killed for economical purposes. Water, soil, and the earth’s green mantle of plants make up the world that supports the animal life of the earth². But today the temperature of the earth continues to increase, and I saw black plastic bags flying everywhere.

May it end one day.

1. The Revenge of Gaia(La Revanche de Gaïa), par James Lovelock éditons Fayard, 2007. Sa thèse de Gaïa — vision audacieuse d’une terre vivante, à la manière d’un organisme, dont la géologie et les formes de vie ont évolué de façon à maintenir un climat et une atmosphère favorable à la vie.

2. Silent Spring(Printemps silencieux), par Rachel Carson, 1962, p62.