Material Territories - Torso - Emergence of the Shore

Torso began with the unexpected discovery of a drained reservoir. As the water receded, tree stumps hidden beneath the surface reappeared along the shoreline, exposing forms that had remained invisible for years.

Photographing these remains became a way of recording a brief state of the landscape before the water returned. Isolated from the surrounding forest, each trunk acquired its own presence, shaped by erosion, drought and time. The title emerged only afterwards, as some of these forms suggested a human figure without ever losing their identity as trees.

Developed within the Unclearpicture collaboration with writer Michel Maurel

A jagged tree stump stands upright on the exposed reservoir shore, with water and a distant forest behind.
A broad weathered stump rises from shallow water beneath a dark conifer forest and overcast sky.
Two cut tree stumps emerge from the receding reservoir, their roots spreading through water and wet sand.
Close view of a charred and eroded trunk base, where splintered wood, deep cracks and exposed roots meet stone.
A pale weathered stump fills the frame, its rounded form and scarred grain suggesting an upright torso.
A large uprooted stump spreads across the sandy reservoir bed, backed by a line of dark forest.
A tall split stump stands alone on the drained shore, with smaller submerged tree remains scattered behind.
A squat stump with exposed roots faces the camera, while other tree remains recede across the pale basin.
An isolated upright stump rises from dry, stony ground near the reservoir, surrounded by broken roots and timber.
A low silver-grey stump lies beside grasses at the water's edge, its roots extending toward the lake.
Bleached roots twist across the exposed ground as fresh green plants grow through the abandoned wood.
Shallow reservoir water reflects the sky around clusters of emergent plants and traces of the submerged landscape.
A weathered stump with spreading roots occupies the pale shoreline, its cracked surface shaped by drought and erosion.
A decayed trunk fragment rests near the waterline, isolated against open ground and a distant wooded bank.
Several eroded stumps punctuate the drained reservoir bed, recording the forest that once stood beneath the water.
Close study of twisted roots and splintered wood, where the remains of a tree take on a fragmentary bodily presence.
Using Format