No Photo

Inspired by the perfect title chosen by Naomi Klein (No Logo), the author expresses a timely way of thinking about photography, the way of using it, its sense. He himself is a photographer, but not only. He is also an agronomist, and a specialist in musical bars, which we can see as we turn the pages, and as we think of his personal experiences or places long gone such as the Limonaire in Paris. He reviews all the enormous changes of this medium. Digital photography, and the explosion in the number of snapshots (which each year are counted in thousands of billions – where do they end up?), the obsession of the selfie (the business of making sticks for selfies can be very profitable) are some of the chapters looked into with a necessary touch of irony, which becomes more serious when we know under what conditions these cameras that have become our appendices are made. Just like a book about the truth concerning meat can take away the taste of a good stew, this book could almost push us to stop taking photos. Actually, the author pushes us to further moderation– we must learn to slow down – and we know it is not easy as is proven by the heated debate on the 80 km/h speed limit in France.

• No Photo, by Pierrick Bourgault, Dunod publishing house, 176 p., €12.90.