When you grow up facing the sea, the feeling of the ocean never goes away.
What impressed me the most when we settled on the Basque Coast was the light and different changes of atmosphere, which proved to be even stronger off-season. The moment when the region becomes deserted of its seasonal tourists and, as for any seaside resort, when the ambiance becomes more serene and friendly.
The emotion emanating from it was so powerful that I felt compelled to transcribe it into images.
I prefer the banality of daily life to the journalistic reporting of an imposed situation. The first lockdown took place in 2020, and the surreal atmosphere of cities emptied of their inhabitants caused a fake impression that kept me away from photographing. It would have been another approach, another subject all together.
So, I decided to wait for life to return to normal before the project could resurface.
Unlike a trip, where we arrive at a destination with a blank gaze; walking the streets of a familiar environment becomes a challenge.
Confronting yourself daily with the same details and atmospheres, everything can seem almost too normal to be interesting or to attract the eye.
It is precisely this challenge that interested me: the simplicity of things, the fascinating aesthetic of everyday life.
I chose to explore the area only on foot for a specific time, and I noticed that I always stayed within a 4km* radius of my home.
This ritual became a journey with imaginary boundaries, leaving free rein to intuitions and chance as I walked.
I was attracted by the idea of taking a specific space and tame it so to extract its identity.
My approach came from a desire to decipher a delimited field rather than being a literal testimony. Almost like a cartography where light and emotion were my only guides.
Unintentionally, I polarized my eternal sources of inspiration which are architecture, cinema and literature; reminding me of George Perec and what he called “l’infra-ordinaire”.
Discovering certain characters’ attitudes from the images I just took had become a daily pleasure when I came back from a day of shooting.
The subject of this project is not necessarily about emptiness, but rather what is around and within. It is a matter of observing a fragment of reality as I see it and feel it. Sharing this magic uncovered, which consists in questioning the habitual.
Après l’été (After Summer) is a project with the only purpose of recounting emotions brought to me by my new life, without the pretension of telling any other story than the one you can make yourself by looking at the photographs.
What we really see and what we discover over time, simply by observing more closer.
Roberto Badin
*4km is the total distance from Copacabana Beach where I lived during my teens in Rio de Janeiro.
Roberto Badin
Born in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Roberto Badin moved to France in the late 1980s. A still-life photographer, he has collaborated with many international magazines and created prestigious luxury and fashion campaigns . He was invited to participate in the Lady Dior As Seen By project, which has held in major world capitals. In 2017, his work was exhibited at Selfridges in London. His first book, Inside Japan, published in 2018 by Benjamin Blanck Editions, was presented in several photo exhibitions, including the prestigious International Photography Festival in Arles and the Museum of Asian Arts in Nice.
Après L’été (After Summer) is his second book. Published by 37.2 and launched at Yvon Lambert on March 2023.
www.robertobadin.com
@robertobadin
