Presentation
Clément CORNEC
France
Photographs
I have always been fascinated by the beauty of the wild, and thus it was only natural that I turned to a profession that aims to protect and preserve this beauty. Guided by this passion, I became an ethologist and went on scientific missions around the world to study animal behaviour. These scientific missions gave me the opportunity to be immersed in the heart of a raw and wild nature and to while in close contact with fascinating species. I have been a privileged witness of the immense beauty but also of the extreme fragility of these exceptional lands and of the emblematic species they host. Through my various photographic projects, I strive to share the privilege of being close to these bewitching and moving wild sites. Beyond this sharing, I am convinced that these photographic projects will also raise awareness of the need to protect this fragile nature and all the life it contains, life that is now threatened. It is up to each of us to become aware of what such universes can offer us, true daydreams that must absolutely be preserved.
Exposition
Antarctica is one of the last Terra Nullius on the planet. Terra Nullius is a Latin phrase meaning “land without a master”. Yet the white continent has its own kind of masters – violent blizzards and destructive cold that reign unchallenged over this exceptional land. Despite the hostility of the climate, this land is a place of life for a whole southern fauna with extraordinary adaptations, emblematic species fighting against the elements. A fauna whose only watchword is to survive in order to give birth to life in the middle of the storm. This Terra Nullius project aims to bear witness to an exceptional place, a place that is now threatened in the same way as the life it contains.