Colony / Colonie

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Presentation by Kehrer Verlag:

"Christophe Gin spent five months exploring the landscapes of Guiana (in French Guyane), from border regions to the most remote Amerindian villages, where soldiers mingle with gold prospectors and exploited immigrant workers, and where local population is forced to integrate republican concepts. His photography bears witness to the reality of life in a land full of contrasts, far from the caricatures often presented through the mainstream press.

« Guiana is France’s most vast region, in which the Guiana Space Centre co-exists with an immense area of forest. In principle, this part of the Republic is subject to the same laws as those of the metropolis. However, a combination of factors (an uncontrollable equatorial forest, a gold rush descending into the tropical Far-West, foreign nationals reduced to criminality, and an American-Indian population forced to adapt to a system of republicanism) transform this part of the Republic into a place of lawlessness.

When viewed from the metropolis, this hellish cliché is what is most often associated with this French department, and unfortunately it is very easy to reduce Guiana to this caricature.

After having worked in the region for the past fifteen years, I see Guiana more like a mosaic of exceptional places, often governed by codes and laws that are right for them. In this context, French law, rights and customs remain somewhat illusory. »

        --    Christophe Gin "

Texts in French and English by Christophe Gin and Christophe Deloire, general director of Reporters Without Borders (on a separate booklet).

This project won the 2014 Carmignac Photojournalism Award.

120 pages + text leaflet - Hardcover

Kehrer, 2015

Format : 30.5 x 28 cm

New - Mint condition