Histoires de graines

Through the fascinating formal beauty of seeds revealed by Thierry Ardouin’s photographs, the book tells the history of these “great travellers” and interrogates the connection with our roots. Based on an original idea initiated by Xavier Barral, it is the result of a long-term collective project involving artists, botanists and scientists and falling within current ecological issues.

Chosen, lit and framed with the greatest care, the seeds photographed by Thierry Ardouin have a morphology that is both necessary and strange, capable of arousing astonishment, questioning or contemplation. From the emergence of agriculture more than 10,000 years ago to the questions raised by today’s hybrid seeds, via the discovery of the uses of seeds acrosscultures and eras, Histoires de graines explores the challenges of diversity. Most of these seeds come from the collections of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, these wild or cultivate seeds from all over the world fascinate us with their formal beauty: colours, textures, shapes, appearances, they capture our attention and question our perceptions. Several essays complete the photographic corpus by Thierry Ardouin.