L'île aux libellules
2016 - 2018
Hy Brasil is a phantom island that appeared on nautical charts as early as 1325, shifting from one location to another across the Atlantic. Over the centuries, numerous accounts have described encounters with this elusive land. According to legend, it is the cradle of an advanced society that has remained hidden from the world, concealed by a dense and persistent fog that has kept it from being discovered. By 1850, the island had vanished completely from all maps.
I set out in search of this mysterious place and may have found it.
These images were made on the Island of Dragonflies (Akitsu Shima), a name that reflects the powerful presence of nature in the Japanese imagination. Here, human presence seems to have suddenly disappeared. What remains are traces, structures that resemble ruins, scattered within an abundant landscape where nature appears to be quietly reclaiming its ground.
Have these places been permanently abandoned, or have they simply become isolated from the rest of humanity?
« Julien Mauve, through the power of his photography, transports these mineral and industrial traces into a science-fiction future. The Island of Dragonflies, which we explore in his footsteps, acts as a warning about the environmental threat that is looming over us. He plunges us into an environment in which human presence has become unnatural. Through his paintings without skies, he escapes the satellites that draw up our world, observe us continuously and aspire to strip life of its mystery. »