Delta / Gilles Coulon
 
The cities of Djenné, Mopti and Timbuktu have an ancient history and are all three located in a vast region of water inhabited and exploited by men: the interior Delta of the Niger River in Mali. Because of the yearly floods caused by the water levels rising drastically, the people of the Delta organise their lives according to the tidal rhythms of a river which branches out across the entire region. What with a constant coming and going of fishermen, farmers and cultivators, human activity in this region is as straightforward as it is complex. The Bozo have mastery over the waters.
As for the Peul, they are the masters of the land. But in a place where the water rises and falls according to the time of year, the territorial boundaries between land and water are not easily defined.
However, what these people have in common is that they are from the Delta, are economically sustained by the Delta and have grown up in the Delta. The photographers, who turned to scientific knowledge to guide them in their choices of subject matter, simply let the people of the Delta be themselves and genuinely speak their minds.
The publication presents scenes of everyday life, stills, portraits, deep thoughts and quotes… As many intertwined fragments which form a lively and dynamic portrait of the Delta. Delta water, Delta rejuvenation, Delta man. An environment forever changing
 
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Exhibitions:
2010 – Champs photographiques, Vieux-Viel / France
2005 – Festival Photo Nature et Paysage, La Gacilly / France
2001 – Festival photographique de Biarritz / France
 
Edition:
Editions Donnyia, 2000. See the book