One of the benefits of photography is that it enables one, in some instances, to see things better than with the naked eye (and subsequently to show one's discoveries to others). The photographs of modillons were such an instance, and quite naturally this gave me the idea of seeing and showing more Romanesque sculpture. I bought some books on the subject and found that this art, that flourished all over Europe (but particularly in central and south-western France) during the eleventh and twelfth century, was one of the most brilliant and imaginative in history. If it is less well known than Renaissance or Baroque art, this is because few of it's masterpieces can be seen in big cities or famous museums: most of them are in churches of small towns or faraway villages, many have been vandalized during the French religious wars or the revolution, many are disfigured by incompetent restauration; those that are best preserved are usually perched high up on some church pillar, in semi-darkness and almost out of sight.

This was indeed a subject where the camera could do better than the naked eye. Of course, Romanesque sculpture has been photographed before, by photographers working with large cameras, scaffolds, artificial light, and whatever cooperation was needed from church authorities. My idea was than one could get closer to the way they were meant to be seen, by simply photographing them from ground level and with natural light - which would also involve less time and smaller expenses.

The first thing I needed was a good tripod and a complete set of lenses, from 21 to 400 mm. The second was the right kind of digital hardware, software and experience, to correct excessive light contrast and geometrical distortions. The third was a companion, driver, and assistant - which was to be my wife Véronique, who helped me in this project even more than in the previous ones. The fourth was financial support - which came from L'IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE, who commissioned me to do a book that will be published in 1999 and shall be called "FIGURES ROMANES".

Besides all this, I also had to learn about Medieval history and Romanesque symbolism, to train my eye in recognizing styles and differences in workmanship, and, last but not least, I had to find out under what angle and at what time of the day the sculptures looked best. Véronique and I worked on this project for more than a year, covering twenty thousand kilometers by car, visiting about three hundred churches and photographing several thousand pieces of sculpture.