Sharing Paths by Ruben Brulat

After going for a month to India, a few weeks in Patagonia, and a few in Nepal, the idea grew in 24-year-old Ruben Brulat‘s mind to go for a long and unstopped journey, an aesthetic travel, leaving from Gare de Lyon, Paris. Brulat decided to go East. From Europe to Asia by land only, through Iraq, Iran, onto Afghanistan, Tibet until Indonesia, Japan and Mongolia. Inspired by his first trips, Brulat realised that he wanted to see and share the experience of giving yourself away to nature in a photography-project. Early january 2011 the Frenchman asked the first person to pose naked in a landscape for him to photograph, trying to create a symbiosis with the surroundings. Last September Brulat succeeded in finding funds to release a beautiful self published book of this series of photographs taken all over the world which was named Sharing Paths.

Brulat sought a new challenge in his photography after finishing the series Primates and Immaculate. It was late 2010 and the photographer was in India, meeting a lot of travelers. Motivated he would just ask fellow-travellers if they would embrace the surrounding for a while, naked. What followed were many conversations and debate, there was some fear, some surprise, and of course many questions. In the end Brulat has photographed both natives and travelers, all sharing a path for a while, before then often saying goodbye to each other for ever. With only a marvellous photograph as proof of their encounter.

When Brulat left Paris he was traveling with a big bag, but by the the photographer arrived in China, all he kept was the 4×5 (large format camera) and a few lenses, the films, and a tripod, on top a few artefacts, antiques, tissues and other things found on the way, linked to memories of a time from the journey that laid behind him. Changing from time to time depending on temperatures some clothes which were bought along the way, one pant, two warm sweaters, a pair of shoes, a few underwear, and a jacket, a warm blanket in case of cold sleeping places, all packed tightly in a canvas bag found in an Iraqi Kurdish Bazar. Travelling with only the utmost necessities in order to find new experiences and more beautiful travelers and locations to photograph them in.

We love the morale and ethic that Brulat drove on this highly impressive journey. The beautiful book with the fascinating story attached is available in a regular and special edition, which is boxed in walnut, hand made by the photographer at his fathers workshop, limited to 50 copies: order both editions here!