Glimmering Madagascar
Part 1

On the coast, the fishermen taught me humility in the face of the sea. What my photos don't always show is the need to dive into the cold water in winter to catch a few fish. I often think about the women who fish on whippersnappers, their courage, their silent grace in the waves... They embody the dignity and resilience of an entire people.

Nature also tells its own story. The story of an island in danger. As a child, I saw mountains covered with forests. As an adult, I see bare hills and eroded soil. Floods and droughts are two sides of the same disaster that affects the most fragile populations. Through my photographs, I try to remind people that nature is one of Madagascar's greatest assets, just like its people. And that we hold an urgent need to protect it.

I have never chosen my subjects. I photograph whatever comes into my head. Lively markets, rice paddies gilded by the sun, children on the paths, women bent over working. Each photo is a fragment of a shared story. The rice paddies here are magnificent, but their beauty hides the harshness of labour and the uncertainty of the harvest.

Ultimately, if my pictures can convey this life, with its problems and hopes, then they will have achieved their purpose. Sometimes a photograph stays in your mind longer than words. It makes you think without words. That's why I take photographs: to let the world know who the people of Madagascar are, so that we can really see it.

Pierrot Men 2025