Walks with Tatí

Artist Books made in 2021

Artist Books – Walks with Tatí

Allier, France and Zeeland, the Netherlands

Getting around in the second year of the lockdown 2021

‘Walks with Tatí’ is the title of a series of pocket-size handmade artist books. There are 12 booklets, each booklet contains 10 photographs of a walk made with my dog Tatí in the year 2021. I photographed walks in the Allier, France and on the island Schouwen – Duiveland in Zeeland, the Netherlands.

It is the second year of the covid pandemic. During lockdowns the freedom of movement is limited to walking an hour around Voussac. My friend lives here. It is a village in the Allier, a rural “departement” in the heart of France. Tati is born here.

My friend found her as an eight weeks old puppy in a dry ditch between empty fields, abandoned.

In France Tatí and I walk through the’neighbourhood’: the hamlets of Beauron and Arfeuille and Chirat, the forest of Vacheresse.

For long walks we descend to the Bouble. This little river seems a shock in the landscape. The quietly rolling hills are suddenly cut of by a steep ravine. A canyon. On the bottom we follow paths along the stream . After the rains in winter and spring it is a turmoil but in summer is mostly pebbles and rocks and a babbling brook. It feels like walking in a Schubert song. It feels safe.

In Zeeland, where my mother lives, we walk on beaches and piers and along the sea dike around the village. Tati seems a born beachcomber, always munching little crabs. From this dyke, you can see the flat lands laying far below the water level of the surrounding sea.

The sea retreats far with the low tide. At high tide, it comes halfway up the dike. With strong winds, the sea makes large waves which beat the dike and fall back in a continuous movement.

Photography by Connie Dekker. Written by Connie Dekker en Ron de Zeeuw.  Inspired by Nescio, John Clare, Robert Frost.   Size booklet: 195 x 140 x 3 mm Material: kraft karton and premium luster photo paper.