La vigne au cœur, 2015

Claude Cruells  

It was in 1993 that Claude Cruells began his career as a professional photographer with underwater photography after 10 years of teaching in Physical and Sports Education. Nikon France, his partner, entrusted him with the production of three posters to promote the Nikonos RS system. The same year begins a collaboration which will last 12 years with the police officers of the RAID during the Mediterranean Games. During these 23 years, he tirelessly travels the world, camera in hand, which allows him to cover major events, such as the 2004 tsunami for VSD or the America's-Cup in New Zealand for Bouygues Télécom. Passionate about travel and discovery, he explores all continents, from Everest to Wallis and Futuna, passing through the depths of South America or the lost islands of Indonesia. Few regions of the globe escape his insatiable curiosity. His sense of expertise and his recognized skills in photography allow him to work with both institutions and large companies such as ERDF, Groupama, Eiffage or Véolia. Today specializing in the wine industry, corporate tourism and humanist reports, he works with the most representative organizations and properties in the sector. Despite this incessant activity, he always leaves to meet new people on the planet. Concerned about the challenges of sustainable development, in 2015 he created the company CarttooN specializing in the creation of displays that are 94% recyclable. On the sidelines of this commercial project and in collaboration with Ethel Cruells and Laurence Crinquant, he founded CarttooN Spirit, an association which organizes international eco-citizen missions. These are mainly intended to support foundations, endowments or associations sharing the same values as CarttooN, by providing them with an image communication tool in the form of photographic reports and recyclable exhibitions. The NGO also aims to carry out memorial projects for their contemporaries and future generations. It was in 2011 that Claude met Laurence Crinquant, herself evolving in the wine sector. This meeting is decisive for these two communication enthusiasts. They share the same fundamental values, both in terms of ideas and the actions they wish to carry out in their respective lives. This is how Claude, touched by Laurence's sensitive and poetic texts, suggested that she associate them, notably in the form of haikus, with her own images. This collaboration will allow Claude to undertake with this committed artist two major projects in his life as a photographer. The first “Mediterranean, divine terroir…” delivers a memorial, artistic and human journey through the most beautiful wine-growing landscapes of the Mediterranean basin. The second, “Regards de Lumière…” is much more personal. It will allow the most improbable encounters with minorities threatened, among others by global warming on the planet. The goal is to bring back the most human and worthy portraits of these natives but also to share their vision of the world in which they live.