What is the genesis of this book?
Philippe Le Guillou : The book was not born from an order, but from a free spring, under the auspices of great freedom! It is the accomplishment of complicity and friendship. We could have met in Finistère, since our houses are not very far apart, but I discovered the photographic work of Benjamin Deroche at the Saint-Eustache church in Paris, and I was immediately won over.
Benjamin is the initiator of this project; he wanted to map, photograph my imaginary, mental and emotional universe. It was something a little perilous that could have dispossessed me or betrayed me, but not at all: the result is very beautiful.
Benjamin Deroche : I have known the work of Philippe Le Guillou for a long time. His writings give me impressions of eternity. His relationship with literature opened my mind to my connection to the visual. Philippe lives in Faou (29), and I in Irvillac (29). We share these places. As an artist, I have always looked for the sacred in my photos. And behind our friendship, there is for me a very powerful guarantee thanks to the liberation in his work of this question of religion.
How did you choose the places photographed?
Philippe Le Guillou : It’s a sort of inventory prompted by Benjamin’s eye. I didn't want it to be complete, or even less a catalog. It was about not claiming to be exhaustive. It's a glimpse of the places I love and that mean something to me. They can be indoors, like my house, or outdoors, with landscapes that are dear to me. It’s very true to what I like.
Benjamin Deroche : The book contains around twenty pages written by Philippe, from Paris. Then, a first series of photos entitled “Spiritual Landscapes” which symbolize the country of his childhood. Another series of photos, “Domestic Landscape”, where we enter his house, his solitude as a writer. And finally, a third series, again called “Spiritual Landscapes”, in the heart of the Arrée mountains which is perhaps the country of his fears.
-Philippe Le Guillou you write that your grandfather passed on Breton myths and legends to you. Do you think we should draw our strength from their sources?
Philippe Le Guillou : I think it's essential! I fundamentally believe in the power of storytelling. You have to tell! That's why I'm a novelist. The story is superior to the analysis. You have to have a part of daydreaming and imagination. My grandfather told me the legend of the town of Ys or stories in the forests… These are things that I found when reading “The Legend of Death” by Anatole Le Braz, but my grandfather had never read it. Originally, I discovered all this by the simple presence of the places.
Does every landscape secrete an imagination?
Benjamin Deroche : I have an obsession with what you can't see in an image. There are few places where I have found the light of Finistère. From Philippe's writings, from our discussions, I tried to bring out the micro-contrasts that we can have visually in our forests, on the banks of rivers, on a hedge, in the morning. They generate mystery.
Benjamin Deroche – Philippe Le Guillou. “The memory of places – The photographer and the writer”. Éditions du Parapluie Jaune. €30.
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