Romain Boutillier lives in Arles, just outside Camargue. With the advent of the pandemic, he felt a need for escape, open spaces, and nature.

When photographing Camargue, it is hard to avoid the footsteps of greats like Lucien Clergue, one of the first to reveal his Secret Camargue [Camargue secrète]; Peter Lindbergh and his fashion shoots at Beauduc; but also, more recently, Josef Koudelka and his panoramic photographs.

Boutillier’s choice of format (square, black and white, analog) accentuates the nostalgic aspect of this history-laden territory. The lines of these open spaces, drawn by nature, emphasized by agricultural traces and punctuated by desolate constructions, create a stark, graphic territorial portrait. The anti-“picture postcard”.

As he wandered, Boutillier discovered a timeless, mysterious Camargue, a back of beyond with its own unique nature, French landscape like a mirage of the Far West.

 Estelle Rouquette