Between 1978 and 1992, then in the early 2000s and finally in 2025, Francis David travelled the length and breadth of France on several occasions in search of gardens, houses and environments associated with art brut and spontaneous creations.
From this monumental exploration, he took over fifteen thousand Kodachrome photographs, immortalising ephemeral installations spread across one hundred and fifty sites. This collection constitutes a unique record of uncharted places, some of which have since disappeared.
However, it is not just the places themselves that form the heart of the project, but also the creators who inhabit them — their faces, their gestures, and their presence in these worlds that they have shaped in their own image. This work has never before been published in its entirety and will be presented for the first time in a book bringing together the ‘official portraits’ of these unbridled creators absorbed in a world they have built to suit themselves.
The book thus offers a panorama of a France that is often invisible and which could only be approached by a man with the curiosity and gentleness of Francis David. Over the decades, he has opened doors, crossed thresholds and revealed gardens, from the late 1970s to the present day. This collection of images will be accompanied by a text by Baptiste Brun, a captivating lecturer and researcher in the history of contemporary art. Verbatims and direct quotes are scattered throughout the book, bearing witness to the voices and words gathered during Francis David’s photographic journeys.