Rien que la mer

The sea, nothing but the sea, the sea of wind, the wrinkled sea that rushes by… This publication is an opportunity to highlight the marine phenomenon of “reefing” and the different surface states of the sea formed by the wind in gusts.

Behind these radical photographs, Franco-Japanese artist Tomoya Fujimoto presents his work on light, movement, appearance and disappearance. On the way natural phenomena manifest themselves to us.

In the low light of dusk, contrasts become more violent, whites saturate, blacks too. The images, very painterly, touch on abstraction, sometimes even evoking mineral or vegetable elements.

The book’s unusual binding evokes the expanse of the horizon, where limits are abolished. With its visual power, Rien que la mer invites us to contemplate both the power and elegance of the sea.

“‘Homme libre toujours tu chériras la mer’ (Free man, you will always cherish the sea) Baudelaire, surprisingly, wrote these words, when modernity was tilting towards unbridled industrialization, pandemic pollution and exponential over-exploitation of the oceans, which are most likely the origin of life and play a part in climate balance. I wanted to photograph them with sobriety and radicalism, in their reflections in the sky, at sunset and at dusk, in light and darkness. Maximum contrast, between the purity of the water and the suggestion of oil slicks. Between happiness and apocalypse. Between desire and fear. But also the fascination of the end of time, the beauty of dread. It’s as much about questioning the future of the oceans as it is about questioning ourselves. For, to return to Baudelaire, who was obsessed by a quest for modernism: ‘The sea is your mirror; you contemplate your soul.'”
Tomoya Fujimoto