Yderst (“at the edge” in Norwegian) paints a poetic, cultural, and political portrait of the coasts of northern Europe. Designed as an album with double-page images, the book uses pictures and text to explore the permanence of ancestral cultures, discussing ecology, adaptation to the elements and to the times, but also how knowledge is passed down along the coasts, from one country to another.
This long journey, undertaken from 2021 to 2024, begins in Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle, and continues along the North Sea coast to Belgium and France. While not exhaustive, this journey aims to weave together the stories of communities and places chosen for what they tell us about Europe today. In the spirit of his previous projects, Sébastien Van Malleghem explores territories and reveals the power of nature in starkly contrasting black and white images.
Conceived as a logbook, in the spirit of Jack Kerouac's road trip, Yderst brings together two approaches, photographic and literary, and takes the reader on a journey that is both contemplative and documentary.