en

Observing the Landscapes

  • France
  • fr
  • en
  • 53'
Observing the Landscapes
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Synopsis

This documentary explores the initiative of the Landscape Photographic Observatories, launched in France in the 1990s by the Ministry of the Environment. Photographers are invited to select a specific portion of natural or urban landscape and capture its evolution over time through a rigorous protocol — a process called « rephotography » or « repeat photography ». From one image to the next, subtle changes reveal the underlying mechanisms of landscape transformation. In the film, testimonies from the photographers involved in the project are interwoven with insights from landscape specialists. As the conversations unfold, they offer a thought-provoking reflection on urban development in France, the way we inhabit the land and the vital role of photography in observing, understanding, and thinking about the landscape.

What you will find in this film

The process of rephotography • a national commission • landscape photography • urban or natural landscapes • the impact of urban planning on the way we inhabit a territory • the importance of photography in the way we think about landscape

Keywords

Nature & Landscape Digital Photography Analogue Photography Street & Architectural
The landscape reflects the juridical, political, social, and environmental state of our society. You can read everything in the landscape.
In this process of rephotography, there was something almost addictive about reshooting those photographs. It was a very strong relationship to the landscape, shaped by the commission itself.
One could say that landscape is at the heart of aesthetics, because it may be the phenomenon that best allows us to understand what we call the aesthetic experience — which is not the consumption of art, but rather the possibility of encountering the world in an unexpected way.

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The authors/artists

Daniel Quesney
Photographer

Further exploration

Bibliography

Resources

Daniel Quesney , Jac Fol ; OBSERVER LES PAYSAGES ; Jean-Pierre Huguet Éditeur ; 2025 

Liz Wells ; LAND MATTERS: LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY, CULTURE AND IDENTITY ; I.B. Tauris ; 2011 

Danièle Méaux ; PAYSAGES. PHOTOGRAPHIE ET IMAGE CONTEMPORAINE ; Filigranes ; 2011

A short film by the French government about the Photographic Observatories of Landscape