Olaf

Olaf – Olaf is a book entirely centred on one character. Apart from his name, we know nothing about him. Olaf settled on the steps of a narrow staircase, on the banks of the Rhône, in the town of Arles.

The photographer, Pierre Toussaint, came across him on the concrete bridge linking the two banks of the river. He approached, then decided to return and spend some time, getting as close as possible to his subject. He stayed for three weeks. These photographs do not offer an answer to the enigmatic presence of this man.

They unfold over the pages in a fragile balance that expresses the need to maintain the right distance, the choice of formal rigour, and the desire to plunge into the sensitive surface. Like Alberto Giacometti’s walking man, St. Olaf retains his mystery, remains ageless and advances towards an indefinite horizon. The book invites us to get closer to an essential part of our humanity, where power and determination are inseparable from vulnerability.