Across the image frame, a mountain ridge covered in a thin layer of snow. On the left, a wide col with white scree slopes below it and rocky formations on its sides. On the right, a massive rock face with green tonalities and dark scree slopes below. On the foreground and bottom part of the image, a forest of dark coniferous trees. Above, a sky covered in dark clouds.
Sharp-edged mountain peak illuminated by warm orange light, giving it a dramatic glow, contrasting against a darker cloudy sky. On the left, another peak is shrouded in mist. On the foreground, a slope covered in grass and with large rocks and boulders scattered around. On the right, silhouettes of large coniferous trees frame the scene.
Bernard Charbonneau was raised in the Bordeaux bourgeoisie. He obtained his agrégation in 1935.
In 1945, he decided not to pursue an academic career and, ‘eager to live in the countryside, he obtained a position at a small teacher training college in the Pyrenean foothills, in Lescar, France, where he remained until his retirement’. (written by Daniel Cérézuelle, in ‘Ecology and Freedom: Bernard Charbonneau: Pioneer of Political Ecology’, Lyon, Parangon/Vs, coll. ‘après-développement’, 2006)
He viewed technical progress as the source of ever-increasing organisation, and therefore greater conformity, hence less freedom. He was a close friend of Jacques Ellul for six decades.
A vertical photograph showing a mountain landscape at sunset. In the foreground, a lake can be seen, and in the background, the Aragonese Pyrenees mountains, with the sun already behind them.
A peaceful mountain landscape. A river twists trough a valley between some color of pine trees, surrounded by mountains under a sky with fluffy clouds. Not a trace of human habitation in sight.