Renowned French photographer Raymond Depardon, founder of the Gamma photo agency, has released a stunning new book titled "Desert," featuring 250 black and white photographs that chronicle his lifelong fascination with Africa's vast desert landscapes. The autobiographical collection represents decades of work documenting the struggles, stories, and wanderings across some of the world's most challenging terrains.
Seventy years after taking his first photographs at his family's farm in Le Garet, Depardon has found countless ways to tell his story. This autumn, he has chosen a more indirect path by publishing this magnificent album that showcases his intimate relationship with the deserts he has never stopped exploring with camera and film equipment. His desert odyssey began in the summer of 1960, during the height of the Algerian War, when he accompanied a French scientific mission into the Sahara Desert.
For the young man from the Rhône region, who had just arrived in Paris and entered the world of paparazzi photography, the desert experience was nothing short of transformative. The harsh, commanding beauty of the landscape and its unique light pushed the boundaries of his consciousness and artistic vision. "This stay was foundational," Depardon reflects, describing how that initial encounter with the desert would shape his entire career trajectory.
The book, published by Fondation Cartier and priced at 59 euros, represents a culmination of more than six decades of desert photography. Through these carefully curated black and white images, Depardon captures not just the physical landscape but the human stories that unfold within these seemingly barren environments. Each photograph tells a story of survival, adaptation, and the complex relationship between humans and one of Earth's most extreme environments.
Depardon's work in "Desert" goes beyond mere landscape photography, documenting the lives of people who call these harsh environments home. The collection includes images from various African deserts, showcasing the photographer's commitment to understanding and portraying the full spectrum of desert life. From nomadic communities to scientific expeditions, the photographs reveal the diverse ways humans interact with and survive in these challenging landscapes.
The publication marks another significant milestone in Depardon's illustrious career, which has spanned documentary photography, filmmaking, and photojournalism. His unique perspective, developed over decades of desert exploration, offers viewers an intimate glimpse into landscapes and communities rarely seen by outsiders. The book serves as both an artistic achievement and an important historical record of Africa's desert regions and their inhabitants.
