"Être Nature" Tour

A major figure in the international history of photography and documentary film active since the 1960s, Raymond Depardon gives a voice to those who are not generally heard in this film. He and Claudine Nougaret nurture reflection on language as principle of identity. They listen, film, and choose to give a voice to people whose native languages are vanishing – from the outskirts of major global cities to rural French regions, South American islands and the Amazon.

Since 1968, Bernie Krause has been exploring the living world through its soundscapes, drawing from his training as a musician and sound engineer to capture and study the organization of animal vocalizations. Today, more than half of the habitats he has recorded have gone silent or been transformed by human activity. This installation encompasses eight soundscapes of as many ecosystems. It is also a testament to a history of loss: in 2017, anticipating the threats to environmental science in the United States, Krause gave the Fondation Cartier a copy of his complete archives; a few months later, a forest fire destroyed his home and decades of audio recordings. This work is an invitation to listen and remember, to feel and reconnect with the vanishing voices of the earth.