DEVOTION
For about twenty years, my photographic practice has been inspired by the representation of spirituality, religious practices and their rituals in different cultures. The ritual is, in the theatrical sense of the term, a "representation" even when the liturgy is exhausted by signifying that the divinity is not of the visible order. With this series «DEVOTION» I want to show the omnipresence of religion in our societies. In Italy or in Italian neighbourhoods in the United States, in Cuba or in Mexico, I discovered that even today people erect altars in or in front of their homes, in their places of work or business. The domestic space can sometimes be saturated with religious objects. Religious icons, statuettes, crucifixes, objects of Catholic, Buddhist, Afro-Cuban religions, santería or syncretism, are exhibited in an often incongruous way as close as possible to the decors of our consumerist societies. Thanks to these images, half talismans, half living being, intercessors between God and the living, everyone wants to negotiate small favors like protection for respectful consideration. “I light a candle you take care of me.” Based on this writing by Serge Tisseron - "Every photograph testifies both to reality which faces the camera and to the psychic reality of its creator." -, my photographs set the scene of my obsession for religious objects.
And finally, in the medinas of Rabat, Meknes and Tangier, I notice, hanging on the walls of shops, engravings of Arabic calligraphy that turn out to be verses from the Koran, the SURAHS. Suras play a central role in understanding the sacred text. For some years, some traders display them to protect against fire and theft, or to get luck and prosperity, in other words the BARAKA ..!
Particular Altars
To access the intimacy of the Sicilians, capturing this invisible faith which becomes ostensible, like a cry, a plea, an extraordinary devotion to all the symbols of Creation...
Altars of the Americas
Another opus of my serial inventories, "Altars of the Americas" documents a tradition of the Italian community in the United States: affixing in front of its house one or more religious statuettes...
A Dios le pido
From the capital Mexico City to the jungles of Yucatan, one observes the fervour of the faithful mixing Catholic and Native rites...
Sourates
Some people say that posting Suras is illegal. Others say that Muslims should remember the words of Allah, and why not, by using modern methods for awareness and information...
Memento mori
In several cities in the South of France, from the marine cemetery of Sète, where the decorations looks like buoys thrown at the sea, to the cemetery of Pertuis in the Luberon where the photos of the deceased are corroded by light to leave only a pale imprint… In the province of Yucatan in Mexico, ...
Santos cubanos
The “Santos cubanos” are part of a neo-African religious tradition that appeared in the Caribbean, specifically on the island of Cuba. Catholics, Protestants, practitioners of Afro-Cuban religions, Santería and Ifá worship, ...
Crucis
Inspired by the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, I started my “Inventories” in 2002 with “Crucis” which lists the calvaires and crucifixes scattered throughout south-west France : Close to my family’s home in the heart of the Landes, there stood an immense crucifix, a surprising architectural detail that became a landmark of the landscape of my childhood...