Mention honorable dans la catégorie « Argentique »

Analog series (medium format 6x6) taken in the Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea (Oceania). “Simbu” is a documentary photography project aiming to broaden our perspective and perception of one of the world’s relatively unexplored provinces. Simbu (or Chimbu) is mountainous, with few natural resources and no tourism. The Highlands region is known primarily for its isolated tribes, but this image paradoxically overshadows the rest of the population. Therefore, to create a more contemporary and realistic image, I embarked on a haphazard journey through the mountainous and rural territory of Simbu, spontaneously capturing portraits as I encountered them. In doing so, my work offers a renewed truth about the people of the Highlands and its inhabitants, a fresh perspective that is at once human, cultural, and geographical. For me, Simbu is an "indomitable land" in the sense that nature elevates the strength of spirit of its inhabitants above the average. Mount Wilhelm (the country's highest point at 4,509 meters) symbolizes this antagonism between the inhabitants and their hostile environment. Survival is the norm; there is no room for weakness. This overwhelming power of nature has fostered in the indigenous people an extraordinary resilience and exceptional temperament. Papua New Guinea, a Commonwealth country, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its independence with Australia on September 16, 2025.