ML: From your work i can tell that you have travelled in many different places in terms of religion, climate, culture, landscape. But what stroke me the most was your relationship in term of image with Iran and other middle eastern countries. Is that a country or a region you particularly favor? Why so?

SP: During my undergraduate studies I focussed my degree on Middle Eastern history and politics and it was back then that my interest and fascination with Iran began. However since high school, I was always interested in the Middle East; I remember doing an assignment on Islam, during a religious studies unit; and although I’m not at all religious, I found it to be a truly interesting area of study. My favourite subject in school was geography and history, and something about this region always demanded my attention.

ML: Your work is about the shifting of cultures and changing of the landscapes, is that an account of ev...

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AKODESSAWA

Togo, June 2019

In a suburb of Lomé, the capital of Togo, on the way from the city centre to the airport, once arrived in a big roundabout, if you take a small street that twists and turned among crumblings buildings and improvised workshops, you'll find yourself in front of a rusty iron gate. On the other side, a big sandy yard with two big metal awnings protect from the scorching sun men, women and kids who, lying and sitting on benches, wait for customers to sell their goods: talismans, charms, skulls, bones, heads, horns, skins, paws, shells, feathers, spines, herbs and living animals. This is not just a market, this is the World's largest voodoo market, the Akodessawa Marche des Feticheurs.

The goods on sale are mainly parts of animals including snakes, chameleons, cats, dogs, turtles, scorpions, crocodiles, rats, monkeys, antelopes, elephants, parrots, owls, hawks, big felines, hyenas...

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We interviewed Patrick Wack to find out more about his travels in China that unexpectedly lasted over a decade, growing up in Paris, and how his love for analogue processes informs his aesthetic.

IP: Where did you grow up as a child?

PW: I was born in Cannes in the south of France, but grew up in the well-off suburbs of Paris.

IP: What are some of your first memories in being interested in photography? Did you study for it or are you self-taught?

PW: I am self-taught, and partly YouTube-taught as some call it. I just moved to China in 2006 and called myself a photographer, then learned the craft along the way.
My father used to work for Picto in Paris when I was a child. Picto was the most famous professional lab in France, where artists like Koudelka and advertising pros alike would come for development and printing. My father was on the management side but did develop an interest in photography. ...

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