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The visionary, portrait of Valentine H. de Ganay
huile sur toile, 100×100 cm
“Feeding Paris. It’s still a formula, of course. Almost a joke, it’s so pretentious, I realize that well. But a direction must be given. Anyway, if I don’t tell a story at the same time or before or after, I can’t do anything. And especially during this time I spend in the fields, in the vegetable garden, or at my desk dealing with the affairs of the fields or the garden, I don’t write anymore…” Co-owner of the Courances estate where she was born, Valentine de Ganay decided over ten years ago to create an organic garden, a CSA (“Les Jardins de Courances”), and gradually transition 500 hectares of the family estate to organic farming and “soil conservation.” Located 50 kilometers from Paris, at the foot of the castle and its water garden, the unique experience in France required and still requires determination and a disregard for political correctness, of which Valentine fortunately has the formula. I tried to capture this exhilarating energy.