Silhouette (Guadeloupe, Bouillante)

In Guadeloupe , on the leeward coast , the beaches of Bouillante host an informal but shared ritual every evening: families, children and the elderly come to enjoy the last lights before nightfall.

Vegetation plays a decisive role: manchineel trees , sea grape trees ( Coccoloba uvifera ) and coconut palms form a dense screen that plunges certain areas of the shore into semi-darkness, even in broad daylight. Manchineel trees are toxic – their sap burns the skin and their fruits are deadly – ​​but their symbolic and protective presence is anchored in the Caribbean landscapes: they stabilize coastal soils and serve as shade markers during the hottest hours.

The woman, at the center of this image, looks neither at the camera nor at the sea: she watches , inscribed in a suspended time, between fading light and rustling vegetation. In Bouillante, as in other coastal communities of Guadeloupe, the beaches are also places of sociability , of transmission, of active silence. The shore does not separate, it connects : generations, gestures, territories.