Jean-Philippe Charbonnier
1956
The parish priest Ramonet, Ile de Sein

Gelatin silver print
Galerie Agathe Gaillard
© Jean-Philippe Charbonnier - courtesy of Galerie Agathe Gaillard (Paris, France)
 
"I left for the Ile de Sein with a book on Gurdjieff that was supposed to get me back into shape. I barely looked at it. Thanks to Felix Guilcher, a real, lyrical and discreet hero, a rare friend discovered over there, to a Parish Priest, and to all the islanders, more islander than Breton. I soon felt quite at home, something quite unexpected, indeed inconceivable. Happy and calm, I was protected by these natural, wholesome, egregious people who look you straight in the eye. I was protected from the distant continent by a superb and pitiless sea. On Sein, I finally told myself 'they'll never get me'. I'll never be able to repay my debt to the Sein islanders for what they gave me." (Jean-Philippe Charbonnier)
 
LL/12500