Happiness is in the meadow (France, Gers)

At blue hour, this image captures a rural scene imbued with gentleness. But beneath its apparent simplicity, it reveals a subtle tension: that between human geometry and the natural curvature of the world. The 28mm framing accentuates the peripheral distortion: here, the curvature of the earth's plane almost literally follows that of the man's back, like a horizon line made intimate.

This type of optical distortion—called barrel distortion —is specific to short focal lengths. Rather than correcting it, this image embraces it to emphasize an idea: in certain everyday gestures, humans blend into the landscape until they become one with it.

An image captured in the Gers , where agriculture remains an economic and cultural pillar. Contrary to bucolic clichés, this region is experiencing progressive rural desertification: in 2024, it lost 9% of its active agricultural population compared to 2010, despite the increase in micro-farms and neo-rurals. This photograph therefore also evokes a silent fragility .

This photograph was selected by the prestigious international gallery 1X.com, which recognizes works for their aesthetic and documentary value.