Inspirations – Discovering Tea

A photo reveals

12 April 2024

Sometimes a photo poses a question. When the shutter is released, the photographer – on the other side of the lens, camera in hand – may not be aware of anything. They are absorbed in their subject, waiting for the right light, adjusting the framing, shutter speed and depth of field. It’s only when they see the photo on a computer screen that things are revealed. Here, for example, I can see the absence of trees. I didn’t notice at the time. How is that possible? And how is it possible to deforest in this way, to farm so intensively on such low hills?

But what I’m really struck by here is the mystery of photography, which sometimes works in two stages. First, it’s a response to appealing shapes and colours. Then there’s something deeper, which reveals itself afterwards.

Wild and tamed nature

29 March 2024

This photo is a beautiful sight, in my humble opinion. Tea bushes grow amid dense vegetation. A rugged, sloping landscape, numerous trees of different species… There’s a harmony between the cultivated plants and wild nature. It’s easy to imagine the wealth of flora and fauna to be found in such a diverse environment. For the amateur photographer in me, there’s pretty much only one colour – at first glance. On closer inspection, what a multitude, what variety! What better way to celebrate spring than with this abundance of greens?

Tea researching is a profession

9 February 2024

I’m not the only tea researcher in the world today. Léo also travels in search of rare teas. We’ve been working together for over five years. We taste all the samples that come in, we nurture close relationships with the farmers and try to promote them and help them when they need it. We train as many colleagues as possible to help them build up their knowledge of tea. That involves yet more sampling, and telling the stories of all our travels and what we’ve tasted along the way. There are only two tea researchers in France for now, but there’s no doubt that it’s a profession with a future, given the current enthusiasm in France for quality tea.

How does one become a tea researcher? The answer is coming soon…

A better life

2 February 2024

All over the world, men and women work the land. When you’re right there with them, you realise just how hard their work is. Spending time with them makes you aware of how they live. It reconnects you with what’s important. Above all, it makes you want to talk about them, to highlight what they do, what they harvest, what they know. In short, to support them. Here, for example, we’re working with people to help them produce teas that are more flavourful and interesting. These teas will earn them more money. This will help them to live better lives, to raise their children more easily and to benefit from better healthcare. They will be able to look ahead with more confidence and thus protect the future of this good way of working the land.

Preparing for tea

19 January 2024

Brewing tea isn’t the same as preparing for tea. While I brew my tea, I prepare myself for it. I slow down and take time to breathe. I let go of any worries and feel lighter. I focus my attention on a favourite object, a positive emotion or a beautiful view, like this one. A view of a garden. While my tea brews, and as I sip it, standing upright yet relaxed, it soothes me.

Tea calms us

12 January 2024

Sometimes I think about what tea does for me. Why does it make me feel so good? Today, I’ve been looking through my photos to inspire my thoughts. I came across this one, taken on the banks of the Ganges. When I look at it, I feel the same sense of calm that I get when I drink my favourite beverage. This photo has helped me to define how I benefit from tea. It calms me. When I make myself a cup of tea and hold it in my hands, I relax. I close my eyes, concentrate and feel free. I detach myself from things, break the invisible bonds that constrain me. Like this silhouette, this man-bird embracing the sky, free from gravity. Tea is an invitation to be calm.

Men at work

29 December 2023

These days, it’s often women who pick tea on the plantations established by the British in India, Sri Lanka and various East African countries. But our British friends are long gone. And while the practices they introduced live on in many tea-growing regions, the fact remains that when left to their own devices, like here, between the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, the growers divide up the tasks as they see fit. It’s good to see men in the fields, and it’s good not to hear the same old rubbish about women’s hands being more delicate, more agile. What nonsense! Even the people I’m photographing think it’s a joke. Let’s end 2023 on a high note, and I’ll see you back here next year!

A lifetime

10 November 2023

I will spend my life photographing the people who work with tea. Observing them, loving them, walking beside them, sitting next to them. Paying close attention to their every move. Waiting for the right light. Saying a few words in their language, if I can. Finding things to share. Or just staying silent and taking in all the air I can into my lungs, then even more, and feeling that air circulate around my body.

I will spend my life photographing people looking at me, people blushing or laughing. People who want more, who rush over to see the screen of my camera when I’ve taken a photo. And others who are more distant. I walked behind this woman carrying a full basket for a long time, trying to capture her attention, but she turned her back on me and walked away.

Zen garden

19 July 2023

In Japan, a very orderly country, the tea bushes are tended in the neatest rows. They form a kind of Zen garden, and in Kyoto and many other parts of the archipelago, whenever you see them you just want to sit down and take it all in. The aesthetic is captivating.

A very classy tea

2 June 2023

In Britain, tea is a ritual, or rather, rituals. There is breakfast tea to start the day, and later on, the much-loved tradition of afternoon tea. The latter is more of a meal than a beverage: the tea itself is important, but even more so is the setting, the quality of the china, and the accompanying cucumber sandwiches, cakes and scones with jam and whipped cream. The Duchess of Bedford started this tradition at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In those days, people ate their lunch early and their evening meal late, and the Duchess grew hungry later in the day. She began to ask for food to be served with her cup of tea in the afternoon. This soon turned into a sophisticated social occasion, a tradition that lives on across the country. Afternoon tea at one of London’s prestigious addresses will satisfy even the biggest appetites in the most refined surroundings complemented by discreet service. It is a social ritual of etiquette. A very classy tea indeed.