The Inhabitants
Raymond Meeks / George Weld
I am a big fan of the poetic photo books by Raymond Meeks (born 1963, Columbus, Ohio). Photography books are an integral part of Meeks’ artistic practice. There is Halfstory Halflife (2018) with images of young people on the verge of transition to adulthood. Taking a leap into the darkness for a future full of uncertainty. Ciprian Honey Cathedral (2020) about daily life, the surroundings in which it takes place and the people closest to us. Somersault (2021) a poetic reflection on home and ties that binds us to it. Inspired by his daughter’s entrance into adulthood and her imminent departure from home. So when I learned that The Inhabitants had migration as a topic, I hesitated whether I should buy it. I thought such a subject would hardly lend itself to Meeks’ poetic approach.
In the summer of 2022, Raymond Meeks followed refugees crossing rivers, forests and wastelands from Southern Spain to the northern French coast to the outskirts of Calais. The resulting photobook, The Inhabitants, shows not the men but the obstacles they found on their way. The traces left by their passage, the ruins of the ephemeral camps and the nature that sheltered them. The Inhabitants is haunted by the fugitive presence of these clandestine passengers. And is a moving metaphor for the displacement of those deprived of the very possibility of inhabiting.
The book is titled The Inhabitants. But the images show no people. We only see the landscape through which migrants pass. Instead of making portraits of the migrants, Meeks followed the traces left by the migrants. Focusing on the places they inhabited, however briefly. On the evidence of their presence, human detritus, and on the land itself, seemingly as impregnable as their access to asylum. The Inhabitants nonetheless carries the feeling of a journey of displacement, bewilderment, of being a stranger in a strange land.
Meeks’ images are combined with an extended poem by poet and writer George Weld. His poem envelops the reader in closely intimate conversation with voices of lament, of wonder, and longing.
The design of the book reminds me of an album of holiday photos. The images tell the story of a journey with Weld’s text serving as captions. Images float to the edges of the pages and then back toward the center, top, or bottom. Images over full pages alternate with multiple images on one page. It gives the book some lightness despite the heavy subject. Of course, this is not about a holiday trip but about a survival trip. Something that is sometimes underestimated by us, Europeans.
Although the books are hardly comparable, The Inhabitants reminds me of Desire Lines by Lara Shipley. Just as in Desire Lines the landscape is telling the story. And just as in Desire Lines it’s about migration. Desire Lines is more documentary while The Inhabitants is more poetic.
This book extends Meeks’ long tradition of creating depictions of the relationship between people and location. Asylum seekers leave their imprint on the areas where they stop to rest, eat and sleep. Transforming a place into a temporary habitation. Many of these places are inhospitable environments.
The Inhabitants
Photographer: Raymond Meeks
Extended poem by George Weld
Published by Mack and Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès in 2023
Embossed hardcover with slipcase, 21,5 x 30 cm, 172 pages
Chosen by people immersed in the photobook world as one of their favorite photobooks of 2023