Jean Gaumy, Men at sea

Jean Gaumy

Men at sea

première édition, ABRAMS, 2002

ISBN-10 0-8109-1198-1
ISBN-13 978-0810911987

In evocative, dramatic black-and-white photographs, this compelling book depicts the seagoing lives of commercial fishermen as never before. On four long voyages between 1984 and 1998, photographer and sailor Jean Gaumy lived at sea, documenting the fishermen's daily struggle. He braved the high seas on the last open-decked trawlers, remnants of an earlier age.
In his log book he renders an eloquent testimony to the end of an era. Gaumy's love of the sea, of boats, and of the thrill of the catch shines through this stirring tribute to a difficult and disappearing way of life.

Very Powerful Documentary of Man in Nature !

Jean Gaumy mentioned in the introduction, "It'll come on its own. I don't know how. I want to go out to sea and the desire contains this seed. It can't be about reporting. It's about something else. I don't really know what. I'll have to describe. Simply describe. Avoid deception, the heroic vein. Stick with just man."

It is a series of journey spreading across 1984 to 1998, in pursing for photographer's self-fulfillment. Doing things purely for oneself is great, and we can see Jean's total enthusiam into the process. Travelling with ordinary fishmen, everything is like adventures on those traditional trawlers. The process can be dangerous and fruitful. Excellent capture of environment in low light condition using high speed film, where you can see the magic of night and sea. It also includes excerpt from Jean's diary, hand-drawing, and page-clippings. Very rich media combining with visual images. We can taste some subtle changes of photographer's body and mind, which is behind the scene.

A raw and original presentation of images presents a powerful record of struggle between human and nature.

Forget Titanic. Jean Gaumy's are some moving images, from heart.
A truly remarkable book

Men At Sea by photojournalist and world traveler Jean Gaumy is a strikingly vivid, largely pictorial presentation of the life and work of a commercial fisherman surviving and working aboard deep sea trawlers. The unforgettable imagery of black-and-white photographs is combined with reproductions of hand-written log and journal entries. A truly remarkable book, and as close a glimpse to life at sea as one can get without personally living among the waves, Men At Sea is a strongly recommended acquisition for school and community library collections.