Jean-François Spricigo's shadow theatre

Photos: Jean-François Spricigo, courtesy of Galerie Camera Obscura Paris
Text: Agnès Bardon
UNESCO

"Let nothing come between you and the light." Nothing could better describe the work of Belgian photographer Jean-François Spricigo than this injunction from American poet Henry David Thoreau, which is highlighted in Spricigo's book Nous l'horizon resterons seul. The series he shot on his travels to Reunion Island, Mayotte and French Guiana follows this dictate to the letter.

A sovereign light makes faces spring out of nature, sculpts shadows, pierces the tropical night. Captured in black and white outline, far from the usual colourful exuberance, his landscapes become life, movement and breath. More than any other, his silent poetry tells us about quivering twilight, a sultry afternoon, the density of silence. It has the power and fragility of a dream.

Human, animal and tree are treated as equals, without judgment or hierarchy. With the same respect. A caiman's jaws emerging from the river, a human silhouette, foliage - these are just some of the apparitions in this shadow theatre, where all are in their place and boundaries are blurred. Between day and night. Between the wild world and the human world. Between dream and reality. These images aren't to be looked at. They have to be lived.

Jean-François Spricigo is a multidisciplinary artist who also writes, creates soundtracks and performs in theatre. In 2023, he won the Prix Nadar Gens d'images, awarded every year to a book of photography.

Jean-François Spricigo

Jean-François Spricigo

Jean-François Spricigo

Jean-François Spricigo

Jean-François Spricigo

Jean-François Spricigo

Jean-François Spricigo

Jean-François Spricigo