The photo-journalist Raymond Depardon took an interest in these villages in Occitania which, to avoid an ecological disaster, opposed the exploitation of shale gas. “Communes” paints the portrait of a preserved and fragile rural world. On view at the People’s Pavilion in Montpellier until April 24.
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He is one of the most famous French photographers, photo-reporters and directors. Raymond Depardon is also a tireless witness of rurality who has set his sights on the territories of Occitania. Thirty-two large-format black and white photographs recount the struggle waged by peasants ten years ago against a project to exploit shale gas. After the confinement, Depardon crisscrossed during the summer of 2020 the 280 municipalities of Aveyron, Lozère, Gard and Hérault then threatened.
Anxious to move away from the picturesque and nostalgia, Raymond Depardon chose black and white to give these villages a form of austerity. In the photos, few or no inhabitants. It is with the hanging linen, the benches and the chairs that we only see traces of it. This particular and somewhat radical approach allows Raymond Depardon to concentrate on his subject and bring out a rurality dear to his heart.
But it was voluntary not to make “the most beautiful village in France” because I know that living there all year round is quite hard, quite difficult, it’s also a real challenge.
Raymond Depardonphotographer
In the 2000s, these 290 municipalities appeared on the list of the “Nant permit”: list of exploration permits for the extraction of shale gas granted by the government. But thanks to the mass mobilization of residents and local elected officials, the project ended up being abandoned. For Raymond Depardon, defender of rurality for twenty years, these villages are survivors. Each of his images illustrates the fragility and resistance of our countryside.