In 2024, Malo Legrand spent seven weeks in Iceland aboard the trimaran “Peter Pan” as part of the “Mer Calme #3” Residency of the Arctic Lab programme. This project was a natural fit with his approach of using photography to explore the relationship between man and his environment. In capturing these interactions, he seeks to understand how human beings can coexist with a natural environment that, far from being subjugated to them, defies and shapes them.
“Being Breton, I was deeply intrigued by the geological contrast with Iceland. The 2-billion-year-old rocks of Brittany juxtapose with the youth of Iceland whose eldest rocks were formed only 15 million years ago and where you can still see emerging landforms, eruption after eruption. This difference has fed into my thoughts about the earth as a living entity in constant evolution.
Iceland, with its almost supernatural landscapes, is the theatre of a constant struggle between man and nature. My photographs bear witness to this confrontation: a road submerged by the sea, a ski resort destroyed by a landslide, avalanche protection structures. These elements demonstrate the degree to which nature is resisting, often to the detriment of man, and reveal a primordial force beyond our control.
Lived out in the isolation of a sailboat, far from modern comforts, this experience offered me a new rhythm, made of patience and flexibility. A place of both freedom and vulnerability, the boat allowed me to face nature untamed and prompted me to question humanity’s role: witness or actor, with a constant awareness or how small we are in the midst of this immensity.”
Winner of the GLAZ 2023 Portfolio Reading Favorite Award.
With financial support from the Banque Populaire Crédit Maritime Grand Ouest Foundation.
In partnership with the city of Saint-Malo.
