This series of photographss was taken in the Lavaux area known as the "Haut Lac", and is due to a happy coincidence and the blossoming of a friendship.

 

One day in 2011, P-A Monbaron was returning with his boat to the fishing port of Cully while I was walking along with my camera in hand, watching the water birds. We exchanged a few words, the fisherman kindly answered my questions and when I suddenly asked him, without any premeditation, if he would agree for me to board his boat one day and accompagny him, he replied briefly, "Why not tomorrow if you like, I'm leaving at six o'clock". Over the course of a dozen years, this first morning outing was followed by many others in all seasons.

Monbaron invited me to join him in his activities: "You should come along when I'm laying the 'picks' (type of net), that's quite something else!", "Why don't you come to the shed when I'm smoking the féras in herbs?

Monbaron, who had become a friend, said to me one day: "You know, it's not unusual for people to ask to come with me, but on the agreed day at 6am, very few were there!

 

I quickly got to know Monbaron's family circle, discovering his links with the village, understanding and admiring his art of living. Fully focused on his craft, part of the local world while remaining discreet, just a step to the side, open to elsewhere. With a predilection for Cameroon, where his wife Clémentine and his daughters-in-law Christelle and Nadine come from and where he likes to join them. His openness to the world is also reflected in his passion for jazz music and his invaluable collection of vinyl records, which his friends enjoy when playing pétanque in front of his garden shed.

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"I'm very attached to my 70-year-old fishing boat, it's my main working tool but it's more than that, it's a bond! "I always loved boats, my father was a fisherman on Lake Geneva. In 1962, when I was fifteen, I started working with him, and I took over the fishery when he died; From the age of 19 to 21, I travelled the seas working on a cargo ship belonging to a Swiss company, and in 1980, a bad year for fishing, I worked for a few months in a shipyard to supplement my income. In fact, I've now spent 60 years working on Lake Geneva with boats! ".

 

The idea of staging our first exhibition of photographs of "fishermen and their environment" in the village of Cully strengthened our ties. The idea was shared at a meeting of the Winegrowers' Association in early 2013, which decided to make its cellar available for the exhibition. The photos were displayed from 25th April to 7th September 2013 in two locations in the village. In the Caveau under the title "Le regard du pêcheur" and in the Pêcherie de Lavaux shop under the title "Filets du Léman".