Photographer Grégoire Korganow spent 51 days aboard the container ship Le Marius, traveling over 31,000 miles from the French port of Le Havre to Brisbane, Australia. His extraordinary journey, which took place between November 2023 and January 2024, is now being showcased in a captivating photography exhibition titled "Face à la mer" (Facing the Sea) at the University of Le Havre's library.
The exhibition, running until Friday, December 19, features about 40 carefully selected photographs from the thousands Korganow captured during his three-month voyage. The images offer viewers a unique perspective on the vastness of the ocean and the intimate world of maritime commerce. "Le Marius offered me a unique viewpoint on the sea," Korganow explained. "The advantage of these big ships is that you're in the middle of the ocean, elevated, very stable, with an unobstructed view."
Every day during the journey, Korganow made his way to the ship's bridge, which overlooks the vessel, to photograph the horizon that changed constantly. The 656-foot-long Le Marius, carrying 2,500 containers, made stops at eight different ports during the crossing, including Kingston, Jamaica; the Panama Canal; Papeete's atolls; and New York at sunset. Despite being considered small by modern container ship standards, the vessel required only about 20 crew members to operate.
The exhibition also features intimate portraits of crew members, who were supervised by Le Havre-born Captain Enrico Gergaud. Some sailors allowed Korganow into their cramped 130-square-foot cabins, spaces that serve as their only private refuge from the constant scrutiny of shipboard life. "It's a space that protects them, these men who are exposed to the gaze of others everywhere except in this cabin," the photographer reflected. "I sometimes entered, I photographed them in a moment of intimacy they were willing to offer me. I always had to do it with caution, with respect."
Korganow's work reveals the human dimension of global commerce, describing it as an adventure "at the heart of goods transportation, at the heart of capitalism." He observed how "men from Latin America and Eastern Europe board a ship to access a less fragile future, at the expense of stable family and personal life." The photographer himself experienced this same cramped living conditions and isolation during his voyage.
Beyond the human stories, Korganow sought to capture the imposing machinery that powers global trade. "A container ship is an engine, oil, sweat, heat, noise... A sort of sacred fire that must be maintained in perpetual motion," the artist explained. He never left this "steel monster" during the entire journey, even when rough seas were so severe that his camera equipment didn't survive the complete voyage.
The free exhibition is open to everyone at the University of Le Havre library, located at 25 rue Philippe Lebon. Visitors can view the photographs Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 7:00 PM, and Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The library will be closed on November 1, 10, and 11. Guided tours are available every Thursday at 12:30 PM, and a special meeting with photographer Korganow and CNRS researcher François Guiziou, a maritime routes specialist, is scheduled for Tuesday, October 21 at 6:00 PM.
