In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, most people can only dream
about escaping to the quiet isolation of the rural countryside. French
photographer Antoine Bruy,
however, turned that dream into a reality when he hitchhiked across
Europe from 2010 to 2013, wandering through remote mountain regions
without any fixed destination or route in mind. Along the way, he met
several individuals who had willingly abandoned life in the city and
retreated deep into the wilderness, sacrificing modern comforts for
greater autonomy and freedom.
In his series Scrublands, Bruy documents the homes and faces of the
people he encountered, by chance, who live far away from civilization.
Staying with these individuals for days or even weeks at a time, the
photographer helped them farm land and raise livestock while learning
more about their self-sufficient lifestyles. Once teachers, students,
and engineers, these people now rely on makeshift buildings, recovered
materials, and agriculture in order to survive.
Bruy’s compelling photos capture the idyllic and rustic beauty of
living a Walden-esque existence in these secluded, wild environments.
“The people and places depicted in my pictures display various fates
which I think should not only be seen at a political level, but more
importantly, as daily and immediate experiences,” he explains. “These
are, in some ways, spontaneous responses to the societies these men and
women have left behind. This documentary project is an attempt to make a
kind of contemporary tale and to give back a little bit of magic to our
modern civilization.”
Via Art the System
