Behind the lens : Zone interdite
The story behind the photograph Zone interdite, from the “Gasy Stories” series, available in several finishes in the website’s online shop.
In my street photography, the setting is just as important as the action unfolding within it. More often than not, if I spot a setting and start waiting for something to happen, nothing happens at all. Planning a street photograph is the surest way to ruin it. Likewise, returning to a place where you’ve already taken a photograph in the hope of capturing a better one usually leads to disappointment.
Zone interdite, from Gasy stories series
The best photograph in my own style combines an interesting setting, a compelling scene, and absolutely no anticipation on my part. “Une reine, un refuge” is a perfect example. I was just passing by when, in a split second, I noticed how interesting the light filtering through the branches was. I immediately took a photograph, and just one! I was lucky that, in addition to the scene of the mother and her children, a woman happened to be walking past, observing the main action herself as she walked along with her bag slung over her shoulders.
Every rule has its exceptions!
For the photographs “Zone interdite” and “Particules, point du jour”, things unfolded quite differently, as I had spotted these locations sixteen months earlier, during my first trip, when I didn’t have my camera with me. I told you about that first road trip, under apocalyptic conditions, in this article. In both cases, I had taken photographs with my mobile phone! The results are simply no match for photographs taken with a proper camera, especially when shooting at night. They could only be printed in a very small format.
“Zone interdite” was taken on the island of Nosy Be, just before the entrance to the village of Darsalam, along the barbed-wire fence surrounding the Jirama power plant. One evening in 2024, I was passing by when this fence, illuminated by the harsh light of a single streetlamp, immediately caught my eye.
There was a dystopian, prison-like atmosphere that I really liked. I pulled my motorcycle over to the side of the road and took a photograph with my phone. The young woman who passed in front of my lens made a surprising movement as she walked, almost like a stretch, reaching back to hold her foot with her hand.
Photograph taken at the same location with a mobile phone in April 2024.
So in 2025, I deliberately returned to this spot, this time with my camera, hoping to capture an interesting image that could be printed in a large format. In situations like this, you have to let go of the photograph you took with your phone and accept that no one is going to come along and do some stretching under that streetlamp again. But that’s the magic of street photography. A photograph captures a fraction of a second of human history, at one particular moment in time, in one specific place, and it’s impossible to take the exact same photograph twice.
First attempt: nothing interesting.
I didn’t stay at this spot for very long, wanting to preserve as much spontaneity as possible. A few people walked by. But there was always something missing to make the photograph work for me.
People staring at their phones, every street photographer’s nightmare.
After a few minutes, the stars aligned: this lone woman, carrying a basket on her head, walked along the barbed-wire fence as a car approached from the opposite direction. The car’s headlights provided a second light source, outside the frame, making it possible to distinguish the woman’s face. I probably should have pushed the ISO a little higher to capture more detail in her face, but the result when printed at 40 × 50 cm is very satisfying.
An unsuccessful shot, but one that shows the setting from a different angle.
Compared to the photograph taken with my phone, “Zone interdite” features a more poetic figure, one that seems more out of place in the prison-like setting surrounding her. Walking slowly with a basket balanced on her head is a far more elaborate choreographic exercise than a simple stretching routine. The seasons have come and gone, the vegetation has turned yellow. Hundreds of moments of human life have unfolded, and will continue to unfold, against this cinematic backdrop, and I happened to be there to capture this one.
Zone interdite.
Location: Road to Darsalam, in front of the Jirama thermal power plant
Shutter speed: 1/250 s
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 6400