Communes is a photographic essay by Raymond Depardon exploring the villages of France¿s
Mediterranean inland region. Its 80 black-and-white photographs were taken by Depardon in the
summer of 2020 after France¿s first lockdown and cover the departments of Aveyron Lozère
Gard and Hérault. These villages are timeless havens of peace where tranquility and cool
prevail. Witnesses to history they were threatened by the `Nant concession¿ a shale gas
extraction project but the inhabitants protested and the project was abandoned in 2015. The
villages with their cobbled streets old houses with jagged facades and rustic construction
are once again thriving. The photographs are accompanied by a text by Salomé Berlioux
president of the association Chemins d¿Avenirs an association that accompanies and promotes
thousands of young people from isolated areas. Berlioux is also the author of Les Invisibles de
la République. Comment sauver la jeunesse de la France périphérique? (Robert Laffont 2019) and
Nos campagnes suspendes. La France périphérique face à la crise (Editions de l'Observatoire
2020).
