Vincent Gouriou is known for his portraits. For over ten years, he has photographed people he meets, often in intimate settings. He’s interested in identity, in how each person inhabits their body, their home, their land. This time, he set out to meet those who live in the countryside and who do not conform to gender or sexual norms.
The project developed slowly, between Brittany and the Massif Central, in France. “I met queer farmers. We took time to get to know each other. Trust had to be built,” he explains. The photographer spent whole days with these individuals, listening to their stories, observing their gestures. Then, at the right moment, he took out his camera.
The images are beautiful. They show scenes from daily life: a hand on a cow’s tongue, a naked body in the middle of the woods, another by the edge of a pond. Through them, Gouriou reveals the tenderness of the bonds between humans and the living world. “Their bodies are attuned to the living world: a long, ancestral time, a calm and continuous rhythm,” he describes.
In another image, a person carries a sheep on their shoulders. Elsewhere, someone is milking a cow. Gouriou also has a strong aesthetic sense, as seen in this remake of a famous Annie Leibovitz photo: here, the neck of a swan isn’t wrapped around Leonardo DiCaprio’s, but around a shirtless farmer’s. Arguably more meaningful than the original.
The photos capture simple moments, approached with respect. That respect also extends to the setting. Each portrait is rooted in a landscape, a home, a forest, or a farm. The settings are never just backdrops. They tell stories as much as the faces do. They speak of solitude, sometimes, but also of peace, freedom, and connection.
The title, “Labourage et pâturage” (“Plowing and Pasturing”), of course refers to the famous motto of Henri IV: “Plowing and pasturing are the two breasts of France.” But here, it takes on a new meaning. It evokes the connection to the land, care, transmission, and above all, reminds us that one can be queer and a farmer—that one identity doesn’t exclude the other.
Julie Crenn, who accompanies the project with a heartfelt and committed text, writes: “Thus, the men photographed are fully part of an ecosystem they have chosen: that of the farm and its surroundings. An environment in which human and more-than-human bodies are affected by the living world in the broadest sense. Snow, wind, rain, cold, heat, trees, fruits, vegetables, grass, hay, light, earth—all the fundamental elements of these ecosystems infuse and influence the bodies. A symbiosis is formed between them.”
The exhibition is also accompanied by an audio track featuring the voices of those photographed. We hear them speak about their journeys, their hopes, their doubts. These voices give the images even greater depth. Gouriou conceived this work on a human scale. He doesn’t try to persuade or condemn. He observes, listens, bears witness. It’s this restraint that makes the images so accurate and touching.
The exhibition “Labourage et pâturage” runs at Galerie Obsession in Paris from March 5 to April 5, then from April 29 to May 17, 2025.
