Sharing Paths by Ruben Brulat | Paris (FRA)

Having been raised in a vineyard in an isolated town in the south of France, nomadic photographer Ruben Brulat is accustomed to nature’s openness. A reoccurring focus in the Frenchman’s work is the unity/disconnect between human being and the environment. Following international exposure with his previous collections ‘Immaculate’ and ‘Primates’ in which he used a timer to photograph himself nude among Paris’s financial district, the ‘Sharing Paths’ series see’s Ruben make’s a journey of self-discovery and shared experiences.

Following a month to India, a few weeks in Patagonia, and a few more in Nepal, the notion developed for Ruben to experience a long and unstopped journey, an aesthetic travel. Leaving from Gare de Lyon (Paris) Ruben travelled East, from Europe to Asia, by land only, through Iraq, Iran onto Afghanistan, Tibet until Indonesia, Japan and Mongolia. Inspired by his previous trips, Ruben wanted to see and share the experience of giving oneself away to nature, documenting the naked human body amongst the rawness of nature’s environment. By embracing everything around them, opening their senses and simply being at one with nature results in ephemera intensity before the moment has passed. It is the scale of the landscapes and their ability to completely overpower their human inhabitants that is powerful in this photography project.

Following funding, Ruben was able to self-publish his series of beautiful photographs which he named Sharing Paths. The narrative constructed only by randomness of the encounters during this unplanned journey highlights the naked bodies of strangers who became companions before continuing with their separate paths, after sharing one for a moment. Recently released, ‘Sharing Paths’ (174 pages, 83 colour plates, D: 20cm x 24cm, 1/250) can be is also available as a limited edition (1/50), complete boxed in Walnut, handmade by Ruben himself in his father’s workshop.