On a recent trip to Provence I met photographer, illustrator and passionate plant fanatic Fancois Decobecq and felt instantly drawn to his creative work. Francois has been recording, identifying and venerating the spontaneous instances of plant growth in different urban milieus since 2006. He catalogues these rebel forces of nature exactly as he finds them; no artificial re-arrangement, enhancement, re-composition or artful interference of any kind allowed (fag ends, litter etc are always left) making of them an incredible estranging beauty.
There is always an abrupt material contrast, the urban space confronted by the incongruous and interloping (un) natural but the images are utterly stunning and frankly very moving; the juxtapositioning of force and vulnerability , the colour and feelings created....the magnified corner or crack of a microcosmic world in contradiction. An inspiring book that moves me to write, even though each image is already a kind of haiku in itself...Take a look at the photos on his instagram account plantsofbabylon and also read the recent Alice Vincent Telegraph Article that discusses Decobecq's work and the phenomena of these organic street resistance fighters...