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Travelogue and Documentary Photography: What Is a Floating Frame? by Daniel Bay

What Is a Floating Frame?

The finest finishes available in the shop feature Fine Art prints mounted on Dibond® and presented in a floating frame. Before acquiring one of these limited editions, you may wish to understand exactly what this type of framing, commonly found in art galleries, museums, and exhibitions around the world, actually is. This article explains its principles, how it is made, and the distinctive features that define this method of presentation.

Travelogue and Documentary Photography: Gasy Stories, the first journey - a hazy odyssey by Daniel Bay

Gasy Stories, the first journey - a hazy odyssey

In this series of articles, I will tell the story of how I ended up riding 3,000 kilometres across Madagascar on a tiny 125cc city motorcycle fitted with smooth road tyres, despite being neither a motorcyclist nor particularly athletic, in order to carry out a photographic project in the streets of several Malagasy cities. Before bringing this project to life in August 2025, there had been an earlier journey during which I did not even take a camera with me. It is this first, demanding adventure through those extraordinary lands that I will recount in this opening article. At the beginning of 2024, I got back in touch with an old friend whom I had somewhat lost sight of over the years. He told me he had fallen in love with a country he described as both unique and breathtaking: Madagascar. He happened to be there on holiday when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and, almost overnight, found himself stranded in the country for nearly a year, abandoned by his embassy and with no way of leaving. What was supposed to be a simple vacation unexpectedly turned into a forced gap year. Captivated by the island, he had returned every year since. For 2024, he was planning a motorcycle road trip across the entire northern part of the country. As our conversation unfolded, he asked whether I might be interested in joining him on the adventure. Apart from a few scooter rides during holidays in Southeast Asia, my experience with two-wheeled vehicles had been limited to commuting between home and work. In fact, since it had become virtually impossible to ride a scooter in Paris itself, I had sold mine two years earlier. He explained that to tackle Madagascar's roads, a 125cc motorcycle—the largest engine size I am legally allowed to ride with a standard car licence—would be perfectly adequate. However, he recommended using a geared motorcycle, something I had never ridden in my life. The plan was not to venture onto dirt tracks or remote trails, but simply to connect a series of towns by following the country's national roads. After only a few seconds of reflection, I decided to follow him on what would become forty-two very long days of "holiday."

Travelogue and Documentary Photography: From Nosy Be to Ambilobe via Ambanja: Gasy Stories, a Street Photography Project. by Daniel Bay

From Nosy Be to Ambilobe via Ambanja: Gasy Stories, a Street Photography Project.

If you missed the first episode, here's a quick recap: In March and April 2024, I set off on a colourful adventure by following a friend to Madagascar, with the idea of doing a road trip on a 125cc motorbike, even though I'd never been to Africa before, not even for a weekend in Marrakech, and had never ridden a motorcycle in my life. Shortly before we arrived, a cyclone devastated the entire region we were planning to explore, and what was supposed to be a quiet little road trip turned into a fairly extreme adventure for someone like me, who's neither a biker nor an athlete. Without a doubt, the craziest journey I've ever been on. The story of that first trip [is available on the blog.](https://danielbaystudios.com/en/posts/gasy-stories-le-premier-voyage)