Nicolas Floc'hInitium Maris 3

This third and final volume of the logbook presents the work on “The Colour of Water”, a parallel series to Initium Maris, but parts of which were integrated into the expedition. The logbook also includes several texts with artistic or scientific entries, views of the first exhibitions and a presentation of the “Initium Maris-Civis” teaching module. The Initium Maris artistic expedition is part of the “Productive Landscapes” series revealing the underwater landscapes of the French coast, a project begun by Nicolas Floc’h in 2015.
The aim of Initium Maris and Paysages Productifs is to use photography to show what lies beneath the surface as far as the eye can see; to question the way in which the ocean is represented; to compile an inventory of the different types of landscape at any given moment; and to disseminate this work in the art world and in a wide range of other circles, including the scientific, civic and educational communities.
Nicolas Floc’h’s photographic series Paysages productifs (Productive Landscapes) brings together a series of projects on the representation of underwater landscapes and habitats and their role as productive ecosystems, the factory of life. Essential indicators of the major issues facing societý, the colour of the ocean and the state of landscapes allow us to visualise phenomena such as the modification and habitabilitý of environments. They also evoke the regulation and transformation of the climate, the degradation and preservation of biodiversitý and, indeed, a global approach to the biosphere.
Paysages productifs is made up of the series: Ouessant (2016), La couleur de l’eau (since 2016), Kuroshio (2017), Initium Maris (2015-2022), Initium Maris – Deep sea (2021), Bulles (2019), Invisible (2018-2020), Invisible/Parallèle – Port-Cros (2020), Invisible/Parallèle – Iles de Lérins (2021).