Photography and fieldwork
By Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy
Geographer and CNRS Research fellow
© Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy – All Rights Reserved
“The most interesting part of the natural world are the edges, places where ocean meets land, meadow meets forest, timberline touches the heights. These geographical edges excite scientists in much the same way that edges of light fascinate me”.
Galen Rowell
These words from the renowned American landscape photographer Galen Rowell (1940-2002) can be said to be as geographic as photographic. If nothing else, they hint at the fact that photography and geography have a lot in common in terms of interests (world, space, people, events), motivation (discover, explore, learn, understand / explain, testify) and practice (presence in the field / on the ground, proximity to actors and events, observation, representation). Of course, what geographers and photographers tend to share the most is their interest for landscapes and spaces (including cityscapes) and their derived urge to represent and record them, as is implied in the suffix of both photography and geography (geography is the only social science that is also a natural science and is not built with the suffix –logy).
Looking and seeing is what photographers and geographers have in common and this is where geographers can benefit from photographers, and vice-versa. Because what photographers and geographers have in common is their observation skills and a trained eye. The eye of the photographer can obviously greatly benefit from the eye of the geographer and vice-versa.
Below is the part of my photographic work that is directly related to my research in geography.
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ENG: Cannabis cultivation in Morocco in 2019.
FR: Culture de cannabis au Maroc en 2019.
ENG: Photos of an aerial survey and a forced eradication of opium poppy fields, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
FR: Photos d'une reconnaissance aérienne et de l'éradication forcée de champs de pavot à opium, Chiang Maï, Thaïlande.
ENG: Photos of Papaver somniferum and opium samples held at the French national herbarium in Paris.
FR: Photos de Papaver somniferum et d'échantillons d'opium détenus dans la collection de l'Herbier national du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris, France.
ENG: Cultivation of hybrid cannabis varieties and products of hashish, extracts and concentrates, in the Rif, Morocco.
FR: Culture de variétés hybrides de cannabis et production de hachich, extraits et concentrés dans le Rif, Maroc.
ENG: Photos of freshly made bhang, an edible preparation of cannabis, traditionally used in food and drink in the Indian subcontinent, Varanasi, India.
FR: Photos dfe bhang frais (préparation à base de cannabis destinée à être mangée ou bue, traditionnellement consommée dans le sous-continent indien), Varanasi, Inde.
ENG: Photos of cannabis cultivation and charas (hashish) making at about 3,000 metres of altitude, Parvati Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India.
FR: Photos de champs de cannabis et de fabrication de charas (haschich) à près de 3000 mètres d’altitude, vallée de la Parvati, Himachal Pradesh, Inde.
ENG: Opium poppy cultivation and production of opium in Arunachal Pradesh, India.
FR: Culture du pavot à opium et production d'opium en Arunachal Pradesh, Inde.
ENG: Photos of cannabis cultivation (kif and hybrids) in the Rif, Morocco.
FR: Photos de la culture du cannabis (kif et hybrides) dans le Rif, Maroc.
ENG: Photos of opium poppy cultivation and opium production in Arunachal Pradesh, India.
FR: Photos de la culture du pavot à opium et de la production d'opium en Arunachal Pradesh, Inde.
ENG: Photos of opium poppies (including fields) in France.
FR: Photos de pavots à opium (dont en plein champ) en France.
© Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy – All Rights Reserved