Mali

“I think that what’s difficult about travelling is looking at things, at the world. The fact that you were born in Morocco makes me think of Thesiger. Thesiger was born in Ethiopia. He spent all of his early childhood somewhere in the hills and this forged a different kind of man. I have the impression that things are more or less the same with you. It no doubt makes sense that you feel comfortable everywhere. I’ve never known that, and at the same time, I travelled early on, as a press photographer, without even knowing that this was travelling.

There’s a type of demagogy that would have us look at the world when we travel, and yet, you also look at yourself. There’s something contradictory about travelling: it’s a mirror of yourself, and at the same time, a type of tolerance, generosity, openness of mind towards others, which is unparalleled. There’s this sort of contradiction which is always present.”

Raymond Depardon, extract from Rêve de déserts, 2000, Éditions Gallimard