Images that celebrate the beauty of the underwater world and its occupants, from the icy waters of Antarctica to the sharks of Polynesia via the reefs of the Mediterranean: the Reporters Without Borders association leaves its sound kiosks on Thursday 64th album, dedicated to the exceptional work of naturalist photographer Laurent Ballesta.
The French photographer, born in 1974 in Montpellier, has been moved for several decades by a scientific approach of a biologist who seeks to observe unknown species in almost inaccessible places, associated with a taste for sporting and technical challenge (he is a specialist in diving in deep water) and with a pronounced artistic fiber.
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"For that to exalt me, I need these three elements ... I will not be able to put a crazy energy to try to be creative from an artistic point of view if it were of a trivial subject, I need it to be a mysterious creature whose biology we do not know, often because it is inaccessible, and therefore, there is a technical challenge to realize, I need these three pillars, ” explains Laurent Ballesta to AFP.
28 days at 120 meters deep
"What brings all of this together is the term naturalist, even if this term is a bit outdated," he adds, in line with scientists and adventurers, who go to the field to describe and illustrate the wild nature. This work recalls the expeditions of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, but also those in Antarctica of Ernest Shackleton or Paul-Émile Victor. "As a kid, I wanted to be a diver on the Calypso, to be part of this team that explores, takes up challenges and illustrates" what she witnessed, recalls Laurent Ballesta.
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Whether at the antipodes or at the bottom of "his" Mediterranean, he says he is aware "of the unexpected luxury of being able to offer virgin spaces of exploration, sometimes without going to the end of the world!" Like last year, where he spent 28 days in a pressurized tank 120 meters deep with three accomplices, off the Côte d'Azur, an extraordinary confinement experience from which he brought back thousands of images. "Every day, when we went out, we almost felt like we were on virgin land or in parallel worlds . "
Laurent Ballesta and an Emperor penguin, Terre-Adélie, 2015. Laurent Ballesta
This expedition called "Mediterranean Planet" will be in the spotlight at the start of the new school year, with the scheduled broadcasting on Arte of a documentary in the first part of the evening, and the simultaneous publication of a new book of photographs. This new RSF album also contains several subjects related to the theme of the oceans, and articles on the state of press freedom, including an uncompromising portrait of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
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These albums of photographs or drawings, which benefited this year from the launch of a new formula, are an essential element in the financing of the activities of Reporters Without Borders. Printed at 120,000 copies, they generate around 30% of the NGO's budget.
