Travel photography,landscapes and cities

Since 1985, my travels have shaped a photographic practice devoted to landscapes, cities and architecture. Created across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East, these images come from personal journeys and professional assignments, first on film and later with digital cameras.

My travel photographs focus on atmosphere, graphic composition, architectural details and the way a place reveals itself through its relief, colours or light. Brought together over several decades, they form a personal collection devoted to very different territories, some of which have changed considerably since the photographs were taken.

Photographing Europe: cities, landscapes and heritage

Europe brings together a remarkable diversity of landscapes, cultures and architecture within relatively short distances. The coast of Brittany, Mediterranean cities, historic capitals and contemporary districts offer very different photographic approaches.

My photographs created in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Malta and other European regions focus on lines, volumes, reflections and textures. They include both natural landscapes and cities shaped by several centuries of history.

Photography of the Americas: open spaces and urban landscapes

From 1985 onwards, my first journeys to the United States introduced me to a scale of landscape very different from the one I knew in Europe. New York, Dallas, California, the deserts and the major sites of the American West had a lasting influence on my perception of space and composition.

The photographs of the World Trade Center created in 1985 now document an urban landscape that has disappeared. Other series show the diversity of the United States through journeys made up to 2014, focusing on cities, roads, desert landscapes and open spaces. One journey to Cuba and two stays in the Dominican Republic completed this approach to the Caribbean through colourful architecture, automobiles and street scenes.

Photographing Asia: architecture, landscapes and everyday life

My journeys through Asia took me to Vietnam, Bali, Hong Kong and several territories with strong cultural identities. Temples, markets, dense cities, tropical landscapes and traditional architecture create very different visual environments.

These photographs are structured around colour, shapes, gestures and the place of architecture in everyday life. Ha Long Bay, Vietnamese streets, Balinese temples and the urban landscapes of Hong Kong illustrate this diversity without imposing the same visual treatment on every destination.

A photographic collection shaped through travel

These photographs cover several periods of my practice, from my earliest colour slides and black-and-white negatives to today’s digital files. Techniques, cameras and working methods have evolved, but the construction of an image remains based on observation, framing and the organisation of shapes.

This collection now makes it possible to bring together places photographed at very different moments in time. Some images preserve the memory of a discovery, while others have acquired a particular significance because the urban landscape, architecture or local practices have changed since they were created.

To explore the technical aspects of film, digitisation and the preservation of these images, you can also consult the film photography and archives guide.

About the author

Sebastien Desnoulez is a photographer, author and image maker based in Paris. His work spans architectural photography, landscape photography and travel photography, with particular attention to composition, lines, light, blur and visual accidents. Trained in photography in the mid-1980s, he covered Formula 1 and reported from around the world before developing a fine art photography practice built around the tension between graphic rigour and visual instability. He also shares his technical experience through practical articles for passionate photographers, drawing on a strong visual culture acquired in both film and digital photography.