At the core of this work, the perpetual motion of the universal tidal phenomenon brings the photographer to question himself about the dialogue between Man and Nature and immerses himself in a broader reflection around the notion of “Sublime” and the way we are disconnected from this notion in our contemporary society.
The series offers a poetical and philosophical consideration of the interaction between the level of human finiteness, and the scale of Nature’s timelessness, unless, following the observation of different human caused negative impacts, they were to surreptitiously swap roles…
Contemplate the ocean…
Who could remain unmoved when,
eyes upon the horizon,
we are caught by the tidal rhythm.
Perpetual broom, incessant flow,
your movements reflect eternity.
And we, observing you,
are sinking
little by little
into the forgotten
are you the echo of our insignificance?
Can we remain as stone
when we face the sublime of
this indomitable and irreducible power?
Can we just, without being pensive,
register this moving immensity
as a rigid thought
Our concepts limit the idea of the ocean,
as beaches and cliffs confine the waters;
and yet they
shape,
wear,
graze
and sculpt
these borders
with each new wave.
Stubborn blade, inevitable ebb,
you will erode our artefacts
long after our obituaries.
Our proudest ships
will end sooner or later in your womb
or spat out on the beach
by your ineluctable quiet strength.
Are you the echo of our finitude?
We occupy seas and oceans,
thanks to our metal and
plastic citadels.
Tidal eternity,
you cannot ignore that
our ingenuity has made us
masters of nature.
Are you the mirror of our omnipotence?
Tidal perpetuity, imperishable power,
although you can erode and destroy our artefacts,
all can be rebuilt or sacrificed.
And in our turn, perhaps,
we will exhaust you,
you the immortal titan,
you colossus with the feet of clay
Are you the reflection
of our inconsistencies?
Drifting, a shipwrecked spirit
to let oneself be seized
seized by ones own finiteness
in the face of things
that he simply can’t capture
by his senses.
Then comes the doubt,
doubt about these questions
posed by the tidal murmur,
unanswered questions,
we can't but answer.
And lost in this abyss,
maybe we will touch
this humanity that escapes us,
this immensity that overflows us
which is at the same time
ours
and other
Let us wander at the whim of the tide,
drifting towards the horizon…
F.Despontin & S.Tong
