Legionnaires also sleep - les legionnaires dorment aussi! - Djibouti

Last June, I shot a story on Djibouti for Geo magazine (German edition). On any good story, there should be one aspect of it that surprises you, that touches you. The French foreign legion is very special. Most guys aren't french. Theses days, most of them comes from eastern Europe and South America. We joined them on a FOB exercise (Forward Operating Base) in the desert. It must have been 50 degrees and 80% humidity. Legionnaires apparently are the crème de la crème when it comes to killing machines. But at night they sleep - their guns beside them, ready for action. These images (long exposures) were shot in the middle of the night, under full moon.

En Juin dernier je suis parti photographier Djibouti pour Geo allemagne. Durant tout bon reportage, il doit y avoir un aspect qui vous surprend, qui vous touche plus particulièrement. La légion étrangère est très special. La plupart des légionnaires ne sont pas francais, ils viennent ces jours-ci surtout de l'Europe de l'est et de l'Amerique du sud. Nous avons suivis un excercice de FOB (Forward Operating Base) dans le désert. Il devait faire 50 degrés et 80% d'humidité. Les légionnaires sont apparemment la crème de la crème des machines à tuer. Mais la nuit ils dorment - leurs armes à leur côté, prêt à l'action. Ces images (des expositions longues), ont été prises au milieu de la nuit, sous la pleine lune.

It does happen... ca arrive - erratum + en route to Nauru

French:
Le week end dernier, j'ai une double de ma série sur la Sibérie qui est sortie dans le Figaro magazine, la section "Arrêt sur image". Le problème, c'est qu'un certain Laurent Masurel, spécialiste de photo de surf,  a eu le crédit de cette photo. Donc, une erreur a la rédaction du Figaro et hop, personne ne sait plus que c'est ma photo. Cela m'était déja arrivé, une photo dans Time il y a queqlues années, mon nom avait été écorché. Dans ce cas-la, en général, la prix de double est multiplié par 2 et idéalement, le magazine publie un erratum. Il devrait apparaitre dans le Figaro Magazine de ce week end. Mais je suis bien loin, a Brisbane, dans une chambre d'hotel, en transit vers Nauru. Ce soir, je m'envole pour 6 heures au dessus du Pacifique.

Et voila Nauru: here it is, an aerial image of Nauru in 2002 from the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program.

Personally, I think Nauru is a spectacular case of middle of nowhere yet middle of everything. Nowhere to hide on this planet? I think so... Been wanting to go there for years, it's going to be 10 busy days on the world's smallest independent republic.

English:
Last week end, I had a spread from my Siberia series published in the Figaro magazine. Only problem is that my image was wrongly credited, to a photographer called Laurent Masurel, who specializes on Surf photography... A mistake from the editorial room, and there you go, no one knows it's my image. It does happen though. I remember a few years ago in Time magazine, my name had been completely misspell. In this case, what does usually happen is that you get paid double and they publish an erratum in the upcoming magazine. This should get published in this week end's Figaro magazine. But I am far from all this, in a hotel room in Brisbane, en route to Nauru. Tonight, I fly 6 hours above the Pacific...

Geo germany, my feature on Djibouti, East Africa

Last June I spent 3 exciting and burning hot weeks (= 45 degrees and 90% humidity... nice!) in Djibouti, on assignment for Geo Germany.
The article came out this week, I was very happy with the result - the whole assignment made me love my job. I felt really lucky.
In fact, I have always been really fascinated by all the intrigues of the Great Game = the strategic rivalry between Russian and British Empire that took place 100 years ago in Central Asia - basically spies dressing up like locals trying to gather information and risking their lives on the way. And much more. Peter Hopkirk has written a few books on this, and they are so extremely well written and documented, I encourage everyone to read them.
Anyway, as it turned out, shooting a story in Djibouti was like diving into the Great Game, but the African version, and its taking place now...
Djibouti, Dschibuti, Yibuti, Djiboeti... however you call it, is right on the Horn of Africa, opposite Yemen, north of Somalia, east of Ethiopia and South of Eritrea! Strategically and geopolitically, it is of extreme importance. It's an island of relative peace in the middle of a relative big mess. So, as it turns out, these days everybody wants a piece of Djibouti: US, China, lots of Europeans countries, Japanese - they all have an army presence in this dried up place. Title of the story sums it up "Alle Welt will nach Dschibuti" which translates more or less as "Everyone wants a piece of Djibouti".

At work at the US army Camp Lemonier ©Ines Possemeyer

During anti-piracy reconnaissance flight, above the Gulf of Aden. German army detachment.

I went with Geo staff writer Ines Possemeyer, a great and passionate journalist. She had worked for a couple of months ahead to secure us access to the various military bases, anti-piracy planes, the president, the foreign legion, refugee centers etc.
They are a million things to say about Djibouti - this is a bless and a curse when it comes to stories. What was a real challenge for me was to get an opening image for the article - one that would summarize the whole complexity of the geopolitical importance of Djibouti. I knew it would be impossible, unless I would find something like an army guy in a slum hanging out with prostitutes while looking for pirates all the while having a chat with the president and a few Somalian refugees... tough one indeed.

Here is the article. I will post more images on Djibouti in the coming days as well as explanations. There are many outtakes - a full story will end up on my website...

En Francais:
En Juin dernier je suis parti 3 semaines, en reportage pour Géo Allemagne.   L'article vient de sortir, je suis content du résultat. L'expérience m'a fait adoré mon boulot - toujours un bon signe.
J'ai toujours été fasciné par les intrigues du "Grand Jeu" - cette rivalité qui a eu lieu il y a + - 100 ans, entre l'Empire Britannique et l'Empire Russe, en Asie Centrale. En gros des espions qui s'habillent en pélerin pour aller récolter des informations dans les contrées reculée de l'empire. Peter Hopkirk a écrit de superbes bouquin a ce sujet, à lire absolument.
En fait, faire ce reportage à Djibouti, c'etait comme rentrer dans le Grand Jeu, version Afrique.
Djibouti, Dschibuti, Yibuti, Djiboeti... peux importe comment vous l'épeler, est sur la Corne d'Afrique (entouré de l'Ethiopie, Somalie et Erithrée, en face du Yemen), c'est stratégiquement et géopolitiquement très important: un lieu assez paisible au milieu d'une zone dangereuse. US, Chine, beaucoup d'Européens, Japonais etc: ils ont tous une présence armée. Le titre du reportage résume bien l'histoire "Alle Welt will nach Dschibuti" : "Tout le monde veut un bout de Djibouti".

Je suis parti avec Ines Possemeyer, journaliste très passionnée, ce fut un vrai plaisir de travaillé avec elle. Elle avait commencé a organiser les accés divers (Armée, président, camp de réfugié etc) quelques mois auparavant - chose essentielle pour ce type de reportage.
Il y a tellement de choses a dire a propos de Djibouti - c'est une bonne et mauvaise chose à la fois. Cela devient sur place très dificile de trouver une image qui symbolise toute la complexité du lieu. Je savais que cela serait difficile, a moins de trouver une mec de l'armée dans un bidonville avec des prostitués tout en cherchant des pirates et en taillant une bavette avec le préseident et quelques réfugiés somalien... bien difficile en effet.

L'article est ci-dessus (ainsi que qq images, en "action"). Je mettrais d'autres images de Djibouti dans les jours qui suivent avec des explications. En fait, le reportage terminera sur mon site dès que je trouverais le temps de le faire.

Kyrgystan, an adventure in video

Here it is, © Gilemon Villemin (with his and some of my footages), a man of mystery, who joined me on my second trip to Kyrgystan, in June 2008. I went to Kyrgystan, invited to the wedding of an American friend, met in Mongolia, who was marrying a... Kyrgyz beauty. Yes, we live in a little village.

We hitched ride with these 2 after trekking near Lake Song Kol, starting on Kumis (fermented Mare's milk) early morning. Obviously, I wasn't on assignment.

Gilemon called it a video polygraph. Like a lie detector, you might in fact feel the blood pressure, pulse, respiration, breathing rhythms and skin conductivity of the video. Good luck with that...



Kirghiz Polygraph from gilemon villemin on Vimeo.

France Info - I am on French radio today - and also about turning my house upside down

Et voila, you can hear Regis Picard, Chief editor of France Info, talking about my recent book, "Mongolie, La route de l'horizon", followed by an interview of yours truly. Just click here...
It is part of a weekly broadcast called "Les Aventuriers".

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Regis Picard, rédacteur en Chef à France Info, parle de mon récent livre "Mongolie, La Route de l'Horizon", parut aux éditions de la Martinière, suivit d'un interview. Cliquer ici pour lire et entendre...
Cela rentre dans le cardre d'une émission hebdomadaire intitulée "Les Aventuriers".

Here below, the easiest way to really clean your house is to turn it upside down - le meilleur moyen de vraiment nettoyer sa maison, c'est de la tournée à l'envers!... C'est pas un proverbe Mongol mais ca devrait l'être. Me voila in Bayaan Olgii, Western Mongolia, 1998

Long work days, Paris & Munich, Book reviews and upcoming gigs - bref, un deluge d'infos fracassantes...

Les amis, I have switched the "comment" thing back on I think, je viens de remettre en marche l'option "commentaires" il me semble, please go easy on me...

Last time I wrote it was just over a month ago. It seems like ages. I was in Paris for the book launch of our Mongolia book. Face time, shacking hands, meeting interesting people, even passing on "national" radio (I will put it here when I get the sound bits) - in the middle of the strikes, my preoccupations were indeed futile...

There were recently two nice reviews from our book. Long to translate, I leave them in French. For english readers, just be aware, they are raving reviews and I wish you could speak French! One reviewer talks about his "feeling of euphoria" while looking at the book. And yes, it's only 20 Euros, so you get double euphoria I guess.

I went around a couple of galleries while in Paris (the exhibition in Hong Kong keeps selling, it was and is still a success), and I have a bit more of an idea of what is out there. Couple of leads as well. I will need a second run.

I am in Munich now, catching up. I just filed a story on Tajikistan. I will be going to Hong Kong, to prepare my next exhibition (early next year, in Hong Kong) and for general work, on my way out to Nauru, where I will be shooting a story end of November/December. In fact, I got a good grant from Vannes (Bretagne, France) last March 2010,  to exhibit a story I proposed to shoot, in Nauru. Geo Germany, whom I shared the story with, is coming on board and will publish the story. So now I am not going alone on this god forsaken island... I am going with a writer.

Also: a story I shot in Djibouti for Geo Magazine (Germany) last June will come out end of this month - hopefully it will end up in the international Geo, meaning it's then translated in 18 languages I think, including English. I can't wait to share some images here with you: army, legionnaire, prostitution, president, pirates, refugees etc - this story has a lot to tell. I did a story for them in Nepal in July, it will come out in the next Himalaya special, I think next December. Here a sneak preview from Djibouti, Navy Seals in action.

To finish, a quote that got me thinking a lot, from Bruno Barbey whom I like very much: "I am more attracted by beauty, humanity, positivity... I don't feel right when it comes to sordid.  I refuse the aesthetic of madness and horror."

I am a bit from that school. I guess I also find it hard to "refuse" an aesthetic, it would mean the visual is analysed first intellectualy, right? not only with a visual "gut" feeling? ahhhh... good food for thoughts anyway...

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La derniere fois que j'ecrivais sur ce blog, c'etait il y a plus d'un mois. Cela me parait lointain. J'etais alors a Paris pour la sortie de notre liver sur la Mongolie. Serrage de mains, rencontre de gens interessant, je suis meme passé a la radio "national" (je mettrais cet interview ici bientot). Au milieu des grèves et revendications diverse, mes préoccupations étaient bien futiles en effet...

Recemment, 2 critiques sont parues sur notre livre. Les voila ci-dessous, on y parle meme de "sentiment d'euphorie", dingue ça.

Paru dans "Le Monde de la Photo":
"Superbe carnet de voyage en Mongolie
Les Éditions De La Martinière enrichissent leur collection Carnets d’ici et d’ailleurs, avec ce nouvel opus consacré à la Mongolie. Il est l’oeuvre d’un couple intimement lié à l’Asie. Envie de partir loin ? De gagner des contrées sauvages ? Lisez Mongolie, la route de l’horizon. Ou plutôt, laissez-vous porter par ce récit en images. Ni guide, ni documentaire, ce livre de petit format (21 x 15 cm) relate l’expérience d’un couple dans ce pays : Matthieu Paley, photographe, et sa femme Mareille, auteure et directrice artistique.
Douze ans
De nombreux allers et retours ont été nécessaires entre 1998 et 2010 pour achever le travail. Pas un problème pour les deux aventuriers installés à Hong Kong depuis huit ans. Ils nous font découvrir les conditions de vie si particulières des peuples nomades dans le désert de
Gobi, les immenses steppes vertes ou les décors enneigés du canyon de Yol. Les photos sont magnifiques. L’enchaînement de portraits et de paysage fonctionne parfaitement grâce à un sens aigu de la composition. Pas de noir et blanc. Le photographe ne recherche pas seulement les belles lumières. Il joue aussi avec les teintes grisâtres, qui semblent parfois faire fusionner
ciel et terre. Chacun des quatre chapitres (Entre ciel et Terre - La légèreté de l’être - La vie en jeu - La Mongolie est un espace) s’ouvre sur un proverbe mongole, suivi d’un texte signé Mareile Paley.
Rédigé à la première personne, le récit, sorte de carnet de voyage, se veut concis. Si quelques anecdotes sont narrées, il laisse la part belle à l’imaginaire, donc aux images. On pense au travail de Daniel et Olivier Föllmi. L’oeuvre des Paley dégage la même pureté, la même sérénité. Ce livre procure un sentiment d’euphorie, un véritable désir d’évasion. Une superbe invitation au voyage, à un tarif très abordable."

Paru dans Trek Magazine, October 2010:
"On aime ce que fait Matthieu Paley, qu'il photographie les vallées Ismaéliennes du nord Pakistan, la Sibérie ou la Mongolie, comme ici On aime la douceur de ses flous, les veloutés Kodachrome de ses tonalités, la nudité crue de ses cadrages On connaît moins sa femme Mareile, auteure des textes qui rythment et instillent une ambiance, un esprit, au fil des pages L'ensemble est à l'image du pays, étrangement vide, immense et dénudé, épure Un simple retour a l'essentiel."

J'ai rencontré quelques galeries lors de mon passage a Paris - l'expo a Hong Kong continue a vendre, c'etait et cela reste un succés -j'ai maintenant une idée un peu plus précise de ce marché à Paris. C'est une affaire à suivre.
Je suis maintenant a Munich... heures de rattrapage. Je viens d'envoyer un reportage sur le Tajikistan qui sera publié en Decembre. Je serais a Hong Kong le mois prochain - pour préparer ma prochaine expo avec ma gallerie et en chemin vers Nauru, mon prochain reportage en Nov/Decembre. J'ai en effet remporté la bourse Pro du "Festival photo de Mer", pour exposé a Vannes l'année prochaine - il ne me resteplus qu'a faire le reportage!... Apres avoir partagé le synopsis du reportage avec Geo allemagne, il m'ont suivit dans l'idée, je fais donc ca en collaboration avec eux et j'irais donc a Nauru avec quelqu'un qui sait écrire. C'est bon ca...

De plus: le reportage que j'ai fait a Djibouti en Juin dernier sort dans Geo allemagne ce mois-ci. Il devrait paraitre dans Geo International, donc traduit dans + - 18 langues. J'ai hate de partager ces images avec vous: armée, legionnaire, prostituées, président, pirates, refugiés etc - ce reportage a beaucoup a dire. J'ai également fait un reportage pour eux au Nepal en Juillet dernier - il paraitra dans leur "Himalaya Special" en Decembre je crois. Une image de Djibouti rien que pour vous... Les Navy Seal au boulot.

Quelques mots de Bruno Barbey pour finir, photographe dont j'admire le travail "Je suis plus attiré par la beauté, l'humain, le positif. Je ne me plais pas dans le sordide. Je refuse l'esthétisme de la folie et de l'horreur". Je suis un peu de cette école-la. Mais je trouve ca aussi un peu difficile de "refuser" un ethétisme. Cela voudrait dire qu'on juge une image d'abord d'un point de vue intellectuel? pas seulement d'abord avec les trippes? Voila matière à réfléchir...

Summer's over - L'été s'éteind

I left Hong Kong early August and after a trip in Germany (and a projection in the Geo offices in Hamburg of 2 recent stories I did for them - a great experience) and the acquisition of "Limette", our ultimate mini camping car VW, we headed to France.
I have been in Cevennes, in the woods of south of france, for the last month - internet works when it likes and there are no mobile reception. I watched my son's fascination for the insect world, wondering at nature. I built a stone wall and washed in the cold spring.

After a short assignment in Madrid, I arrived in Paris yesterday. I drove on the long lonely highway all the way up here with Limette. It smelled like the end of summer. But it's ok, I don't mind greyness.
Our book on Mongolia, "Open Horizons", is coming out today and I have meetings lined up here for the next few weeks. I will be looking for a gallery as well, an interesting, if daunting task.

Here a short book extract from Mareile's wonderful text (that's her in the picture below), © Mareile Paley:

"A traveling fool is better than a sitting wise.
(Mongolian Proverb)

Your first awareness of the space around you most probably occurred inside your mother’s womb. You stretched your limbs to explore your surroundings – we all did –and already we were confronted with boundaries. Maybe this is the reason why we humans are so drawn to the idea of having space. Space is unattainable therefore we crave it. Space to live, space to think, space to breathe.
The horizon is the ultimate link to our idea of space. Space is unattainable. So is the horizon. It marks the boundary of our tangible perceptible world. A beautiful, unattainable destination.
At home, my horizon ends at the apartment block across the street. In Mongolia I walked and drove and rode for many months with nothing but the open horizon as my guide.
«Most of the day we walk, quietly, side by side, both lost in our thoughts, stopping for an hour or so to rest or to fetch some water from a nearby river. I completely lose notion of time. The endlessly stretching rust-colored hills lead our way. The settling sun beckons to pitch the tent, wherever we are. We go to bed at nightfall and move on as the first rays of sun crawl over the hills in the morning. A dung fire to cook on. I feel enchanted by the might and dignity of the nature around. I feel free. Thoughts come and go. I try to understand who I am in this world.»

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Nous sommes parti de Hong Kong début Aout et après un voyage en Allemagne (et une projection chez Geo à Hambourg de 2 reportages que j'ai récemment fait pour eux - une expérience formidable) ainsi que l'acquisition de Limette, notre mini-camping car VW, nous avons pris la route pour la France.
Ce dernier mois, je l'ai passé en grande partie dans les bois cévenoles - internet marche quand il veut et la réception portable ne passe pas. J'ai regardé mon fils se prendre de fascination pour le monde des insectes et s'épanouir devant le spectacle de la nature. J'ai construit un mur de pierre et je me suis baigné dans la source.

Après un bref reportage à Madrid, je suis arrivé hier de Paris. J'ai conduit les autoroutes abandonnées jusqu'ici avec Limette. Ca sentait la fin de l'été. Mais ca va, j'aime la grisaille aussi.
Notre livre sur la Mongolie "La route de l'horizon", sort aujourd'hui. J'ai des rendez-vous qui s'annoncent pour les prochaines semaines ici et je vais me mettre à la recherche d'une gallerie également, une drôle de tâche.

Voila un extrait du livre, du très beau texte de Mareile (la voila sur la photo ci-dessus), © Mareile Paley:

"Mieux vaut un fou voyageur qu’un sage assis (proverbe mongol)
Votre première prise de conscience de l’espace autour de vous a probablement eu lieu dans le ventre maternel. Étirant vos membres pour explorer votre environnement — nous l’avons tous fait — vous étiez déjà confronté à des limites. C’est peut-être pourquoi l’idée d’avoir de l’espace nous attire tant. Si nous avons un tel besoin d’espace, c’est parce qu’il est inatteignable. De l’espace pour vivre, de l’espace pour penser, de l’espace pour respirer.
L’horizon est le lien ultime avec notre idée de l’espace. L’espace est inatteignable. Ainsi en va-t-il de l’horizon. Il marque la limite de notre perception du monde tangible. C’est une destination magnifique qu’on ne peut atteindre.
Chez moi, mon horizon se limite à l’immeuble d’en face. En Mongolie, j’ai marché, conduit et chevauché pendant de nombreux mois, et l’horizon ouvert était mon guide.
« Une grande partie du jour nous marchons côte à côte, tous deux perdus dans nos pensées, nous arrêtant environ une heure pour nous reposer ou aller chercher de l’eau dans une rivière. J’ai complètement perdu la notion du temps. Les collines couleur de rouille qui s’étendent à l’infini nous indiquent le chemin. Le soleil couchant nous fait signe de monter notre tente où que nous nous trouvions. Couchés à la nuit tombante, nous sommes debout quand les premiers rayons du soleil rasent les crêtes des collines. Un feu de bouses pour cuisiner. La force et la dignité de la nature alentour m’ensorcellent. Je me sens libre. Les pensées vont et viennent. J’essaie de comprendre qui je suis dans ce monde. »

"Mongolie, Route de l'Horizon" (Editions de la Martinière) coming out September 16th in France.

There, for a bit of emotion... Our book on Mongolia (photo: Matthieu Paley, texte: Mareile Paley), will come out September 16th in Paris, at the Editions de la Martinière. It's titled "Mongolie, La route de l'Horizon" (could translate as "Mongolia, Open Horizon") - a recap of our wanderings in Mongol-land since 1998. Below is the cover/back-cover and some pictures (the book is 188 pages).
Watch this space for more upcoming infos on the book, text extracts etc...
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Séquence émotion: notre livre sur la Mongolie (Photo: Matthieu Paley, Texte: Mareile Paley), sortira à Paris le 16 Septembre, aux Editions de la Martinière. Intitulé "Mongolie, La Route de l'horizon", c'est une rétrospective de nos errances Mongoles, débutées en 1998. Ci-dessous la couverture devant/derrière et quelques images (le livre fait 188 pages).
Suivre ce blog pour plus d'infos à venir, d'extraits de texte etc...

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Oh yes, and following mild complains of some of my very uber-French countrymen (I still love them very much), I will try to always give bilingual versions of my upcoming blogs. Voila, c'est dit!

Dunhill features me on Day8

Just fresh back from a 2 weeks assignment in Nepal, more about this later.
Here is something about me on the Dunhill website.

Matthieu Paley holding a lecture and film screening at the Royal Geographical Society.

Here it is! Extract from the RGS website or you can see it here.

THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY – HONG KONG

presents

“The High Pamirs: the Roof of the World”

by

Matthieu Paley

on

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

1F, Duke of Windsor Building,

15 Hennessy Road, Hong Kong

(please note that this building is in a convenient location, about 5 minutes from Admiralty MTR or Pacific Place, next to the HK Police HQ)

6.30pm Drinks Reception; 7.30 pm Lecture

                                                   

We are delighted to welcome Matthieu Paley to lecture at the Royal Geographical Society on “The High Pamirs: the Roof of the World”.  Mr Paley lectures on his work as a photographer in the Afghan Pamirs and its neighbours Tajikistan, Pakistan and China, as well as the history, geographical and geopolitical situation of these countries.  

Mr Paley has resided in Hong Kong since 2002, but spends much of his time in the most remote and often highest altitude corners of Asia, as an intrepid explorer and award-winning photographer. Since first arriving in Asia in 1999, he has spent over four years living, exploring and photographing the remote mountainous regions of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. 

Following into the footsteps of explorers such as Sir Francis Younghusband and John Woods, Matthieu Paley explores these regions to seek a better understanding of their remote lands and people. During his time travelling, he has immersed himself in the culture and language of the indigenous tribal peoples of these regions, and is conversant in Wakhi, Tajik and Urdu.  By returning repeatedly to these remote regions and, over time, building friendships and trust with nomadic and indigenous communities isolated from the outside world, Mr Paley has been able to take unique photographs captured with the sensitivity of an accepted insider.   

Following the lecture, Mr Paley is going to show his multimedia documentary "Forgotten on the Roof of the World", which was recently screened at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival in Colorado.  It tells the story of a little-known tribe of Kirghiz nomads in one of earth’s most remote regions, Afghanistan’s High Pamirs mountains. Leading the viewer through this people's stories of struggle, opium addiction and survival, Mr Paley and American anthropologist Ted Callahan tell the story of the film in word and image. Their documentation covers the tribe’ s unique barter trade with a small community in Pakistan as well as their routines and traditions in Afghanistan. 

A frequent speaker on the lecture circuit in Asia and at Festivals in Europe and Asia, Mr Paley’s work has been published widely in numerous publications including GEO, National Geographic Adventure, Time, Outside, Discovery, Vanity Fair, Le Figaro and Le Monde, among others.  Mr Paley's work has been exhibited at galleries in France, New York and Munich as well as at the Perpignan Photojournalism Fair. 

Members and their guests are most welcome to attend this lecture, which is HK$100 for Members, and HK$150 for Members' guests and others.  Location:  http://www.hkcss.org.hk/image/map/HKCSS-map.jpg

GPO Box 6681, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2583 9700

Fax: (852) 2140 6000

Email: events@rgshk.org.hk

Website: www.rgshk.org.hk 

Some pictures of the exhibition: "An Ethereal World" - up until June 19th.

Here it is before I fly off to Djibouti until June 15th. As South China Morning Post suggested, we had about 300 people that came through during the opening, on May 18th.

I just held 2 private viewing on May 25th, and we will have an open day at the gallery on Saturday June 19th, where I will be present all day. If anyone wants to have a chat and listen to more stories, please come!

Today's South China Morning Post, about my ongoing exhibition...

Exhibition's opening was a great success, with over 200 people that came through on May 18th - a great birthday gift! But more about this later, with pictures etc...

Here is an article that just came out today in South China Morning post, before the day is gone...:
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Exhibition: An Ethereal World: Journeys to the Edges of Asia - Picture This Gallery, Until Jun 12th 2010

© Yvonne Teh
May 20, 2010

Matthieu Paley has literally come a long way since working in a provincial town in the north of France "where, if you were a photographer, you'd be working on the main street doing portraits for ID cards". He spent some years in Jakarta and New York before moving to Hong Kong in 2002.

Currently based in Shek O, the Frenchman - who celebrated his 37th birthday two days ago, the same day his exhibition at Picture This Gallery opened - has travelled to, and worked in, several parts of Asia, including remote regions such as the Pamir Knot, the name given to a mountainous area where Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China meet.

An Ethereal World: Journeys to the Edges of Asia, which is part of this year's Le French May, consists of 17 photographs taken in a part of the world Paley first visited in 1999 after a conversation with a Pakistani man in New York.

"I was so ignorant then," Paley recalls, adding he wasn't even aware there were mountains in the country. But after his first visit to the region,  "I got hooked. I have been back there every year ever since."

Paley and his German wife Mareile spent time in a secluded lake village in the Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. "One day we went there and the water was low and my wife was just walking there and I took a picture and that's it, you know? It's a great memory for me when I look at it," the photographer-explorer says of Kachura (picture below).

Another, more famous body of water, Siberia's Lake Baikal, is the setting for other works in the exhibition. The dark blue water in Ice Rider hints at how deep the voluminous freshwater lake is (more than 1,600 metres) and how clear it is. That the ice on the lake is up to 1.5 metres thick and able to support a horse and rider is a sign of how cold and long the winters are. While most people stay away from Siberia in winter, that's when Paley prefers to visit.

"In winter, things slow down and I think that, as a photographer, when things slow down, it gives me more time to see things, to capture them," he says. For another, "I love wintry conditions because it brings [out] something special in people to be able to live in these harsh conditions".

One of them is Marbet, a young Afghan Kyrgyz girl, who thinks nothing of being out in temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius. Paley photographed the red-cheeked girl soon after she came in from the cold, where she had been tending her father's goats. "[Marbet] dropped one of the tiny goats by the fire. And I said, 'Just sit there,' and she sat there, and she looked like this and I took her picture."

Mon-Sat, PictureThis Gallery, 11am-6pm, Suite 1308, 13/F Office Tower, 9 Queen's Road Central. Inquiries: 2525 2820

Taste of Mongolia (that would be mutton...) in this month's Travel & Leisure

Travel & Leisure features a portfolio of some of my Mongolia images in this month's edition. See it below. Voila!