In 2017, writer Jean-Philippe Toussaint met publisher Xavier Barral. Toussaint told him about his desire to create a book of photographs, the idea being to design a book that was impossible to find—as he himself put it—composed of his images. Gathered in a suitcase, the images arrived on Xavier Barral's desk. Then Xavier passed away, but the publishing house continued on its path, and the suitcase went with it. The suitcase is there, now it must be opened and a visual and intuitive story begun.

Stored in kraft paper envelopes and drawing boxes, more or less classified by theme—Venice, Tokyo, China, New York...—color and black-and-white prints, contact sheets, and strips of negatives immerse us in the writer's imagination. After a first draft—the beginning of a subjective narrative—Jean-Philippe Toussaint takes hold of the story and supplements the images in the suitcase with older, more personal ones. The book gradually takes shape over the course of 36 exposures... Considered a highly visual writer—"from my very first novels, I have always imagined scenes visually "—Toussaint has created a work in which words and images echo each other and weave together a work that speaks to the eye.

An interview with Philippe Séclier, who discusses the author's relationship with images and their resonance in writing, concludes the book.