Barefoot on The Sacred Land — A Photo Series by Caroline Ruffault Taken With The Potsdam Kino Film

Caroline Ruffault is a French photographer living in Saint-Malo in Brittany. Her work oscillates between portraits and analogue experimental photographs. Caroline is also the curator of SHEGAZES, a magazine dedicated to the female gaze in art and photography. Today, she shares with us her text and her photo series "Barefoot on The Sacred Land" taken with our B&W 100 35 mm Potsdam Kino film.

Caroline's photo series is a self-reflecting essay drawing inspiration for Tatanga Mani/ Walking Buffalo:

"We saw the Great Spirit's work in almost everything: sun, moon, trees, wind, and mountains. Sometimes we approached him through these things. Was that so bad? (...) Indians living close to Nature and Nature's ruler are not living in darkness.
Do you know that trees talk? Well, they do. They talk to each other, and they'll talk to you if you listen. Trouble is, white people, don't listen. They never learned to listen to Indians so I don't suppose they'll listen to other voices in nature. But I have learned a lot from trees: sometimes about the weather, sometimes about animals, sometimes about the Great Spirit." - Tatanga Mani / Walking Buffalo

The process came naturally as she accompanied her husband from Austin to Los Angeles. She had a desire to talk about the connection with nature they felt during their trip.

I followed my husband (thisisredeye) between Austin and Los Angeles and on the lands and tracks of the native American people, I wanted to talk about our connection with nature.

In closing, we read a passage of prose by Caroline Ruffault.

I went to the beach, a little remote creek. I took off my shoes, took off my socks, buried my feet in the sand. After the pleasure of being free from my shoes, there's the sensation of these billions of sand grains caressing my skin, my endings connecting to the earth.
Then my legs follow in a back-and-forth motion, and when too many sand piles up between the two and that we can see the trace of my body, I bring back everything in the middle to start over.
I continue to massage my calves and I lay my hands.
They dive below the surface, sink, go up, I feel like caressing my lover, quietly.
I look at the sea and I suddenly hear the sound of the waves.
The chunks of rock share their warmth and each friction soften my skin.
On the way back, I still felt the sand, and the following day again while I'm writing these words. The crackling of earth persists under my foot arch.
Far from the grey buildings and the noise of others, I exist without wanting to be more.
I intuitively feel that I belong as part of this whole, I see the spirits wandering, the goodwill of grass protecting my bare feet, the electric charge passing through me when I'm tired. I'm a wounded animal who lies down on the floor, a lonely tree surrounded by concrete which constructs roots.

To know more about Caroline and discover her other photographs, go on her website and her Instagram. If you are curious about her project SHEGAZES, you can find more info on the SHEGAZE's website and Instagram.

écrit par florinegarcin le 2019-08-12 dans #équipement #Gens