"On the dune of the ocean, nothing gives the time; it looks like the early ages of the world" -  Jean Cocteau
Atlantic coast, Lège Cap-Ferret, January 2020
Atlantic coast, Lège Cap-Ferret, January 2020

Plage de la Pointe aux Chevaux, Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, January 2021

Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, April 2021

Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, January 2020
Kids playing on the beach in Cap Ferret

Plage de l'Horizon, or Plage du Petit Train, Cap Ferret, December 2020

Surfers in Cap Ferret walking on the dunes

Cap-Ferret, December 2020

Claouey, Lège Cap-Ferret, August 2021

Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, April 2021

Le Canon, Lège Cap-Ferret, January 2020

Bassin d'Arcachon, August 2021

Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, April 2021

Sand dunes near the beach on the Atlantic Coast

Plage de l'Océan, Atlantic Coast, Lège Cap-Ferret, December 2020

Oil well, Cap-Ferret, Lège Cap-Ferret, August 2021

Bassin d'Arcachon, August 2021

Plage du Truc Vert, Lège Cap-Ferret, September 2021

Cap-Ferret, Lège Cap-Ferret, August 2021

Couple swimming in Banc D'Arguin during summer

Banc d'Arguin, August 2020

Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, December 2018

Oystermen, Bassin d'Arcachon, February 2021

Course de pinassottes sur le Bassin d'Arcachon

Traditionnal boat race, Bassin d'Arcachon, August 2021

Grand-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, December 2018

Bird on trees

Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, December 2018

Old people waiting on a bench in Grand Piquey

Grand-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, December 2018

Petit-Piquey, Lège Cap-Ferret, August 2019

The Atlantic Ocean in its abundance flows into the Arcachon Bay, in the southwest of France. During summer, people flock here to frolic, have fun and soak in the waves and the good times. But what remains after the holiday season, when the fun is over and the tourists that come out to seek the bay’s sunny shores retreat to their city lives? There is falling traffic and a community that slowly stirs back into a more quiet life, awaiting  another holiday season.
Tourists bring vigor and joy to Arcachon Bay. They come from France and all over the world, and leave not just with memories of golden beaches but also with the sand grains that form the dunes of the coast. These dunes, an essential part of the area, are not just  adored but climbed over and over again throughout the summer months. This marvel that has lured man’s attention for decades is proving to not be a match for over a million footfalls it receives each season. Perhaps this fragility is another characteristic that makes these small coastal French towns unique, where summer is had in an environment that is slowly on the decline, unaware by the merry seekers. 
Hints of the “presqu’île” popularity among international tourists can be found in the signs on the beaches that are written in English, French and German. While they come from all over, the home owners in the villages consist of Bordelais and Parisians, whose abodes remain empty save for a few months of the year. In contrast the oyster, fisher and craftsmen who rely on the bay’s ecosystem for daily bread rarely retreat its shores.
In France, designing a coastal management strategy lies largely on the shoulders of municipalities. In Lège Cap-Ferret, the communities who live in the village throughout the season have taken it in their own hands to protect the area.  Stories of villagers hoarding up rocks in the edges of their property, to counteract the ocean eating up the shoreline are heard in the grapevines, along with actions by local NGOs. Sanctuaries are demarcated to protect  endangered areas and the species that accompany it, from encroachment by real estate developers.  
What will become of the Bay in the upcoming decades will be dependent on how the villages respond to the new additions that can be found on the sandy shores. The waves of the Atlantic don’t just bring sea critters and their homes but also plastic bottles, and other non-recyclable companions of the tourists that visit.Can we trust governments to bring about changes that will protect the local environmental interests when they authorize foriegn oil companies to extract from the bassin? 
A similar narrative of environmental depletion shadows the waters as they flow into the harbor,  stacked with sailboats that not only harshly affect the visibility of the horizon but also marine life. Which in turn affects the local fishermen and the generations of family trade that are dependent on the regenerative factor of nature.
Arcachon Bay  is more than just an idyllic summer playground, it is a set of beautiful villages that exist in an interconnected system of fragility.  A kind of fragility that if protected in the right ways can exist for decades to come outside of just memories and photo albums. 
The aim of this series is to capture the Bassin as it traverses through a crucial time of its continuation, showcasing the lives and times of the ones who are dependent on it and of the ones who merely stop by to gaze at in passing on a summer afternoon.
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