Official painter of the Navy, Ewan Lebourdais presents himself as a "boat lover"

The Finnish photographer Ewan Lebourdais became an official painter of the Navy. A prestigious title awarded by the Ministry of the Armed Forces. This does not entitle him to any remuneration, but allows him to board the ships of the National Navy.

"look, the green of the sea, the red of this worn out hull, this matter, these reflections." Ewan Lebourdais continues to marvel.

In the light of the harbor of Brest, which varies with each blinking of an eye, the old Russian boat will soon become a souvenir. The rust began his work. Deconstruction will soon take place.

But this hull, the numbers from the gauge line, Ewan Lebourdais wants to immortalize them before the ship's last great voyage to the shipyard.

"boats have a great life. This green, this red tells his whole story. The layers of paint tell the seas and the currents he had to face, the shape of his keel tells us about his travels, and these grey stains evoke his end of life in the harbour of Brest."

Ewan Lebourdais takes the time to frame, he lets his zodiac rotate around the huge hull, occasionally straightens the bar to grasp the light.

"A beautiful photo is not necessarily a blue sky and an academic subject, it is going to explore something else, something singular," he confides the wrinkled gaze, as if he were always looking a little further, the next photo, the one to come.

"by becoming an official painter of the Navy, seafarers recognize me as an artist, it is..." Ewan Lebourdais does not finish his sentence, but there are suspension points and photos that sometimes say more than long speeches.

Every trip at sea is an adventure

"I go out in search of an image and every time it's an adventure because you never know what's going to happen, entrusting Ewan Lebourdais. At sea, you can meet a sailboat, or a submarine. You go fishing for images, and after the waves and currents drag you... but deep down, he admits easily, each photo is a pretext to go to meet the other," and especially of the seafarers he cherishes so much. Whether they are military, rescuers, commercial sailors or submariners, they live the sea and the oceans.

The sea as a painting

Ewan Lebourdais likes to play with perspectives, alignments, escape lines, as in this picture of a submarine taken as he sails in front of the lighthouse of Le Minou. The machine and the lighthouse are both cut out like Chinese shadows, and Ewan's photo makes it possible to distinguish every small detail.

A hundred sailors leave their families for a month or two, but at the same time, they are very proud to sail on this craft "." there are a lot of things that come out, "he says." it's the power and sadness of the departure. A hundred sailors leave their families for a month or two, but at the same time, they are very proud to sail on this craft. "

The photographs of Ewan Lebourdais on the Titans of the Sea can be seen until 28 October at the atelier des Capuchins in Brest.

At the beginning of the fall, Plugasnou painter Jonathan Florent and cartoonist Emmanuel Lepage also became official Navy painters.