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”From Cape Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia to Mozambique along Kenya and Tanzania, the Swahili coasts stretch in a light Gulf sprinkled with islands bordered in the south by the Comoros and closed by the open palm of Madagascar. These Islands have been trading since time immemorial with India, the Arabian Peninsula or Madagascar. All kinds of goods, sugar cane, millet, clove, ivory. Rhino horns. Indigo. Turtle shells. Pagan slaves captured far inland disdained by Coastal Muslims. The images of Gilles Nicolet closely follow, step by step, the shape of the coast. We cross, haphazardly, men, women, children, boats, fish, spiders. One has the impression that the photographer has only to look around him for the lens to capture a moment of beauty. The photographs delve into time, and the viewer cannot help wondering if he is dealing with distant memories or today’s clichés as the beauty of these scenes and characters is beyond present.”

Excerpt from the introduction by Mathias Enard, Prix Goncourt 2015