Islands are fascinating. These stretches of land, sometimes close to the mainland, sometimes very isolated at sea, are sometimes strategic locations for trade, fishing or war, sometimes inhospitable and yet inhabited by supportive communities. They evoke both the idea of travelling and putting down roots.
In stark contrast to the Brittany of postcards, photographer Michel Thersiquel delivers an intimate account that offers an insider’s view of the Ponant islands. His work reveals what the hurried traveller forgets to see, the spirit of the islands, life in the rhythm of a different time. These photos, imbued with humanity, gravity and humour, are just as the islanders wanted him to see them.
A lifetime of photography
Born in Bannalec to a photographer, Michel Thersiquel devoted his life to this art. He moved to Pont-Aven, the city of painters, in 1966. He called himself a ‘photographer-portraitist’. His portraits made him famous. He was introduced to the Paris Photographic Club, known as the ‘30×40’, alongside such big names as Robert Doisneau and Willy Ronis. Invited to exhibit in Paris, he entered the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and exhibited at the inauguration of Beaubourg. Considered one of the best photographers of his generation, he was chosen to represent young French photography in France and abroad.
In 1973, he joined his father’s studio in Bannalec. There, he continued the series he had started in Pont-Aven and began others: social reporting in the Pays Bigouden for 10 years, the world of fishing, the Kerpape functional re-education centre, social reporting on the islands for 3 years. Each time, he takes a long, patient approach to his subjects. Far from the old-fashioned images of Brittany, he tells the story of his country and the people who live there with empathy and respect. The result is a body of work that expresses the universal from the intimate.
Sellit, A vision for Brittany
In the 1970s, photography redefined its social stakes. The trend towards social or ‘humanist’ reportage, which was already at its height in Paris, was developing in an original way in many parts of France, with the aim of documenting the way in which rural French people lived their daily lives.
In 1979, three photographers – Guy Hersant, Michel Thersiquel and Alain Le Nouail – set up the Sellit group, which means ‘Look’ in Breton, the regional language of Brittany. Their aim: to work together to invent a way of seeing. Its subject is nothing other than what we have in front of our eyes and what we end up not seeing any more. They set out to show communities and territories that appear to be devoid of the slightest topicality, a collective work in which each photographer assumes his or her own authorial vision. The group’s founding project is the Breton islands. Through it, the photographers hope to bear witness to everyday life and change the image of Brittany by freeing it from the exoticism that is often associated with it.
