The last gondola craftsmen.
For as long as we can remember, boats have always been an indivisible part of life in the city of Venice. “Barca xe casa”: a boat for the house. This old Venetian proverb is the extension of a more down-to-earth image: that of horses being attached to the walls of houses. This floating coach has since the foundation of Venice been an essential tool for survival, transportation, trade, communications and consequently the well-being of the city. The layout of the lagoon, which is truly a maze with its narrow canals (177 canals), small islands and long strips of sand, requires very special boats, with a flat bottom making it possible to avoid all obstacles. In Venice, there is a wide variety of boats of different sizes, each offering characteristics appropriate to the use for which it is intended: the sampierota, the bragozzo, the topa, the bragagna and the vipèra. Nevertheless, a fascinating boat clearly stands out from this family portrait: the Gondola has won over the hearts of millions and conquered time with its truly specific grace.
D’aussi loin que l’on se souvienne, la barque a toujours été indissociable de la vie dans la cité de Venise. ” Barca xe casa”; une barque pour la maison. Ce vieux proverbe vénitien est le pendant d’une image plus terrienne : celle des chevaux que l’on attache aux murs des maisons. Ce carrosse flottant est depuis la fondation de Venise l’outil indispensable à la survie, aux transports, au commerce, aux communications et par conséquent au bien être de la ville. Le profil de la lagune, véritable labyrinthe constitué de canaux étroits, d’îlots, de longues bandes de sable, nécessite des embarcations bien particulières, à fond plat, permettant de surmonter tous les obstacles. Il existe à Venise une grande variété de barques, de différentes tailles, chacune proposant des caractéristiques adaptées à l’usage auquel elle est destinée; la sampierota , le bragozzo, la topa, la bragagna, la vipèra. Mais de ce portrait de famille se détache une barque fascinante qui a conquis les coeurs et les siècles par sa grâce toute particulière : la Gondole.
Photos and text © Boris Conte / Lightmediation
Contact - Thierry Tinacci Lightmediation Photo Agency +33 (0)1 61 80 57 21 thierry [at] lightmediation.com
Spirit Lands : Eco living in South Wales.
In english:
For more than five years Tony Wrench and Jane Faith lived unnoticed in the Pembrokeshire National Park in South Wales. It was only when the Coast Guard flew overhead by helicopter that the solar panels on the roof of their ecological home were spotted. In 1997 the couple moved to a farm run as a sustainable community where they built an autonomous eco-home using a mixture of natural resources (earth, wood, straw) and renewable energy sources (solar panels and wind turbines). The result is an ecological roundhouse, harmonious and perfectly integrated into the landscape.
En français:
Pendant plus de cinq ans Tony Wrench et Jane Faith ont vécu inaperçus dans le parc national du Pembrokeshire au Pays des Galles. Ce n’est que lorsque le garde côte a survolé la région en hélicoptère qu’il a repéré leurs panneaux solaires, installés sur le toit de leur maison écologique. En 1997 le couple s’est installé sur le site d’une communauté à développement durable et a construit un habitat autonome utilisant un mélange de ressources naturelles (de la terre, du bois, de la paille) et des énergies renouvelables (panneaux solaires et éoliennes). Le résultat est une maison ronde harmonieuse et parfaitement intégrée dans le paysage.
Photos © Andrew McLeish / Lightmediation
Contact - Thierry Tinacci Agence Lightmediation +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21 thierry [at] lightmediation.com
The Gurkhas : the Forgotten Soldiers of the Crown !
The Gurkhas. One of the most highly respected infantry soldiers in the world. Men acknowledged as “the bravest of the brave”, whose enemies tremble at their motto, “Better to die than be a cowar” and shake at the sight of the Khukri, their famous traditional knife. The Gurkhas have fought exclusively for the British in just about all their military campaigns from the 19th century up to this day. They were involved in both World Wars, during which the number of Gurkhas in British regiments reached a record level of roughly 100,000 men. However these men, who sacrificed their youth and often their health, leaving behind their family and children for years at a time, are nowadays left by the wayside, virtually penniless…
Les Gurkhas. Une des infanteries les plus respectées du monde. Ils font partie de ceux qui sont reconnus comme “les braves parmi les braves”, ceux dont la devise “plutôt mourir que d’être lâche” fait frissonner autant que la vue de leur célèbre couteau traditionnel, le Khukuri. Ces Gurkhas ont participé, pour le compte exclusif des britanniques, à presque toutes les campagnes militaires du 19ème siècle à nos jours et notamment aux deux guerres mondiales pendant lesquelles le nombre de Gurkhas dans les régiments britanniques a atteint des niveaux records avec quelques 100 000 hommes. Pourtant aujourd’hui, ces hommes qui ont sacrifié leur jeunesse, souvent leur santé, laissant famille et enfants au pays pendant plusieurs années, sont quasiment laissés-pour-compte et sans ressources…
Photos © Cedric Bosquet / Lightmediation Texte ® Rebekah Wilson
Contact - Thierry Tinacci Agence Lightmediation +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21
thierry [at] lightmediation.com
On the horsemen’s steps by Joseph Kessel.
In December 2001, in Afghanistan, during the war between the Taliban and the coalition forces, Alain Buu, photo-reporter, covers the Tora-Bora battle for Gamma agency. The terrible battles take place in a magnificent and strangely calm landscape. Alain Buu makes himself a promise: he will come back one day, but this time it will be to reveal the authentic and savage beauty of this unique country, capable of preserving it’s nobleness despite 22 years of war. He knows he will have to immerge himself into the very heart of this land desired by all the conquerors but never completely submitted, and follow Joseph Kessel’s footsteps who also let Afghanistan absorb him in order to render it so alive in his novel “The Horsemen“. The book “On the Horsemen’s steps”, photographs from Alain Buu and text from Joseph Kessel, preface from André Velter, will be published by Gallimard and is coming out on the 26th of October 2007, in France.
Photos © Alain Buu / Orizon / Lightmediation
A laboratory for the H-bomb
In 1996, France signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) after having completed in 1995 a final and resounding nuclear test campaign in the Pacific. Now, France has to find other ways to guarantee the performance of its thermonuclear weapons. To maintain a convincing strike force, without resorting to other nuclear tests, France created an ambitious Simulation programme whose aim is to put in an equation the physical phenomena involved in the ignition of a thermonuclear weapon.
Photos et text ©Hubert Raguet/Lightmediation
Intimate Che - Che Guevara intime.
The photos of the famous guerillero, from his childhood until his life of father. He was twice married. First to Hilda Gadea, with whom he had a girl, Hildita, then with Aleida March who gave him 4 children: Aleidita, Camilo, Celia and Ernesto.
Les photos du célèbre guerillero de sa plus tendre enfance jusqu’à sa vie de père de famille. Il fut marié deux fois. D’abord à Hilda Gadea, avec qui il eut une fille, Hildita, puis avec Aleida March qui lui donna 4 enfants : Aleidita, Camilo, Celia et Ernesto.
©Photos Jazz Editions/Lightmediation
Exclusif : le Che par Perfecto Romero
9 octobre 2007 : 40ème anniversaire de la mort du Che. Des images exceptionnelles du premier véritable reportage sur Che Guevara d’octobre 1958 à Mars 1959, réalisées par le photographe Cubain Perfecto Romero. - Le Che blessé pendant les dernières batailles de la guerilla cubaine - La rencontre du Che pendant la guerilla avec celle qui allait devenir sa deuxième femme, Aleida March. - Che Guevara en tant que en tant que gouverneur militaire de la forteresse « La Cabana », où ont eu lieu les procès publics des criminels de guerre pendant les premiers jours de la Révolution cubaine en janvier 1959.
2007, 9th 0ctober: 40th anniversary of Che’s death. The first reportage about Che Guevara during his guerilla campaign in Cuba and the start of the Revolution. Exceptional images taken by Cuban guerilla-photographer Perfecto Romero from October 1958 to March 1959.
The Aka pygmies :an endangered freedom
Granted Intangible World Heritage status by UNESCO, the Aka pygmies are considered to be the very first inhabitants of the Central African Republic. Once, they roamed the vast equatorial forests in the southwest of the country, following the seasons in their hunt for game, edible fungi or roots.
Nowadays, globalisation is gradually encroaching upon them and this nomadic people is beginning to settle around towns and villages, adopting a more agricultural lifestyle. Thanks to their isolation from the rest of Central African society, the Aka are still little known and, whilst they are attempting to modernise and free themselves from the yoke of the Bantu villagers who still keep many pygmy families as slaves, they also try to preserve their traditional lifestyle. Caught between inequitable trade and pure exploitation working on villager’s plantations, these Aka pygmies also fall prey to all the converts of the great monotheistic religions: always to the detriment of their own values.
