Des silences habités
As part of the continuation of the series "We All Had a Farmer in the Family," which tells the story of disappearing farms in France, I set off on the paved roads of the Avesnois region to meet those who cultivate the land.
This is the story of a walk through the village of Ramousies. It is the story of an unexpected encounter at the edge of the village with a young farmer, Romain, who took over the farm from two brothers, Guy and Bernard. One story leads to another.
And so, step by step, I meet their neighboring farmers—Chantal and her husband Jean-Pierre, organic farmers in Semeries, and then Agathe, Romain's cousin, who took over her parents’ dairy farm in Étrœungt.
Silence. That is what struck me the most. The silence of the farmer contemplating his fields, the silence of Guy during the milking, the silence of Agathe as she observes the health of the young calves, the silence of Romain as he walks toward the gate to feed his cows, the silence of Jean-Pierre peeling potatoes for the lunch his wife Chantal is preparing.
Inhabited silences.
This series was created as part of the residency with the Maison de la Photo de Lille in Avesnois (France) in October 2023.
Many thanks to Olivier Spillebout for this invitation.
