Journey through the exhibition “Seas and Mysteries” at the Charles Nègre Photography Museum in Nice
Under the arches of the Charles Nègre Photography Museum, a journey in apnea is offered to the visitor. The exhibition Seas and Mysteries by photographer and biologist Laurent Ballesta takes us into a world that is both distant and familiar, between splendor and fragility.
Three seas, three worlds
The first stop takes us under the ice of Antarctica. The contrast is striking: on the surface, a frozen palette, almost silent, inhabited by about a dozen species. But underwater, the explosion of life defies appearances: 9,000 species, a fireworks display of colors and forms that Ballesta captures with precision. Far from the polar black and white, this world reveals its unsuspected richness.
Next, we head to the warm waters of French Polynesia. Here, life abounds. Ballesta achieves a feat: 24 hours underwater, to document the spawning of groupers. An event as rare as it is ephemeral, which attracts hordes of gray sharks each year, coming to hunt under the cover of night. With minimal lighting, sometimes only the moonlight, the photographer captures the aesthetics of this nocturnal hunt with unsettling delicacy. It took two years of immersion, nine divers, and thousands of hours to capture the frenzy of this untamed nature.
Finally, the last part of the exhibition brings us back to the Mediterranean, “the sea he knows best.” Thanks to industrial diving techniques, the team spent more time underwater in one month than in a whole decade of classic diving. A technological feat that reveals a little-known world: that of the Niçois abysses, where life rises each night from the depths to the coastal waters.
An aesthetic in service of a commitment
“I dive like a botanist in the forest,” writes Ballesta. And that’s exactly how it feels: a humble, scientific, almost spiritual approach. His images are not just photographs: they are open windows onto a world on borrowed time, where mystery is paired with ecological urgency.
The exhibition Seas and Mysteries is on view until September 28, 2025. An invitation to dive differently.