En forêt domaniale du Flamand

Abstract

How can a native landscape become a photographic image ? Do habits weigh on photographers or do they, on the contrary, make them more astute in their analyses ? In other words, does such proximity promote or proscribe a photographic project ? To answer these questions, which already suggest a shift from the land to the landscape, we take a look at the Flamand national forest in a woodland area of the Médoc region. After demonstrating the existence of a “geohistorical” link between Flandre, Médoc and the notion of the landscape, we reflect on the interlocking utilitarian and iconic dimensions of the forest through its emblematic maritime pine by using our photographs. Thanks to this geohistorical and photographic exploration, we show to what extent the simplistic beauty of the touristic image, by conferring on the land a “varnish”, eludes the complex technical resources needed to maintain a correspondence between the environment and its representation.

Keywords

• pinewood
• Flandre
• geohistory
• landscape
• photography
• walk