Charles Thiefaine (FR/IQ, b. 1991) is a photographer and journalist from Roubaix, France. Based between France and the Middle East, Thiefaine’s practice lies at the border between documentary and point-of-view photography: he discovers and arranges evocative stories to create new proposals on conflict territories. As well as his commissioned work for the French press (M le monde, Libération, Movement) and international media outlets (The Washington Post, Kinfolk, Vice), Thiefaine has participated in a range of festivals and exhibitions including Circulation(s), Les Rencontres Photo du 10ème and Copenhagen Photo Festival. His artistic projects include Tahrir, Ala Allah and the recent Walking with Dragons series.
Socotra is a strange paradise: a prosperous island where a mythological past emerges from the landscape. The sea is incredibly rich in fish. The vegetation flourishes, comprising 30% endemic plants: dragon blood trees, boswelia and bottle trees. This Yemeni island is also a territory of exile for many young people fleeing war on the mainland, in search of a better life elsewhere.
Walking with Dragons immerses us in the daily life of the island’s inhabitants, attempting to express man’s relationship with the environment. What are the consequences of global warming for the residents’ daily lives? How has a society of 80,000 inhabitants managed to maintain a special relationship with nature? In what way is nature a constraint and a bulwark against the recent conflict in Yemen? This series sets out to explore the many ways of thinking and means of adapting seen amongst Socotra’s inhabitants, referring to themes of family, war, friendship, fishing, boredom and celebration.
