François Fontaine

François Fontaine

France | Born in 1968

„Travelling to Japan means discovering
a mysterious, indecipherable world.
Wander along unique pathways and get lost
in the heart of a nature shaped by a people
who revere it. Dive into a sensory,
aesthetic world, a world which is
both thought-provoking and moving.“

François Fontaine

These photographs are an ode to travel, contemplation and wonder, and they come in a very special form that is simultaneously poetic, gentle, and nostalgic. It’s hardly surprising, then, that François Fontaine, a PhD in Art History and member of the VU’ Agency, received this year’s Leica Award for New Takes on Environmental Photography.

For the last twenty years, he has been producing chromatic series inspired by Eastern cultures. This time, he travelled across Japan from south to north, following the country’s springtime blossom season.

From the city of Kagoshima, he traveled up the islands of Kyu-shu- and Honshu-, reaching as far as the sacred city of Nikko-. Focusing on parks, gardens, shrines, and places of pilgrimage, François Fontaine aimed to capture the emotions evoked by nature’s transformation.

The photographer immersed himself in a sensory and aesthetic world that is as moving as it is thought-
provoking. In Japan, nature is imbued with mystery and magic. Animals seem to emerge from a haiku or a
children’s tale, and the stylized, colorful plants from a Japanese print.

By sharing the ancestral custom of “hanami”, which consists of contemplating the beauty of flowers, mainly cherry blossoms, François Fontaine allowed himself to be immersed in the sweetness of spring and the splendor of the blossom in order to capture nature’s elements in all their glory: the play of light in the foliage, the graphic shapes in the branches, the colorful textures on the waterlogged ground, and the reflections of trees on the ponds.

Prévert said that “life is a cherry, death its stone and love the cherry tree”. A Japanese writer once said that the cherry blossom, blooming in the spring sunshine, encapsulates the spirit of his people. François Fontaine gives us this fleeting gift of nature, through his work.