GILLES NICOLET: Burnt Eyes
“An exquisite eye.”
Blending photography and poetry, Burnt Eyes explores nostalgia, memory, and identity, offering a profound reflection on the complexities of belonging and the stories that shape us.
Burnt Eyes is a thoughtful exploration of nostalgia, memory, and the intricate connection between place and identity. This beautifully printed, linen-bound collection features the striking black-and-white photography of Gilles Nicolet, paired with resonant poetry by Tanur Shah, creating an intuitive interplay between photography and verse that invites personal interpretation. The book offers a nuanced portrayal of Africa, with each of Nicolet’s photographs serving as a heartfelt tribute to the people and places that have quietly shaped his identity. Nicolet challenges the oversimplified notions of the continent while exploring the intertwined themes of beauty, memory, and belonging, highlighting the complexities of longing, loss, and the concept of home. Overall, the flowing sequence of images and poems throughout this volume suggests narratives rich in intricacy, waiting to be unraveled.
In the foreword, David Pilling, Africa editor and Financial Times columnist, captures the essence of this collection: “The photographs and poems in Burnt Eyes pulse with the sadness of nostalgia. A yearning for what has slipped away and can never be retrieved.” The work uncovers the silences and overlooked spaces that convey powerful stories about our experiences. The photographs evoke moments of solitude and contemplation, encouraging a connection to the emotions and memories that resonate within us, irrespective of our personal landscapes. Ultimately, Burnt Eyes lingers in the consciousness, prompting reflection on the actual and metaphorical landscapes that shape our understanding. It embodies the enduring spirit of Africa and the intimate stories we carry with us, wherever we may go.
“An exquisite eye.” —Patti Smith
“This book is not an introduction to Africa. It is an act of self-contemplation and a lingering farewell to a mist-filled fantasy that never was. It is an unleaving.” —David Pilling, from the foreword of Burnt Eyes
“Gilles Nicolet’s revealing photographs transcend the visual, leaving a multisensory imprint of Africa. One feels deeply its people, animals, and landscapes. . . . These photographs do not simply show what the continent looks like—they evoke what it feels like to remember, lose, and imagine it. At the same time, the images themselves are unforgettable.” —Roger Ballen
“Burnt Eyes is a book of celebration, where the splendor of existence sets the eyes ablaze and lifts the soul.” —Fabien Ribery, L’Intervalle
“[Burnt Eyes is] a book like an ember: one breath is enough for the fire to flare again.” —Guenola Pellen, Blind Magazine
“What a sublime book this is. With Tanur Shah’s words of ecstatic yet uncompromising truths, and in Gilles Nicolet’s rapturous yet implacable photographs, Burnt Eyes transports us to a place that looks and feels like the Godhead, and it is Africa.” —Jon Lee Anderson, journalist and author; staff writer for The New Yorker
“Africa becomes alive in Gilles Nicolet’s hands, proof that he is an exceptional artist with a deft eye for the extraordinary.” —Nuruddin Farah, author, laureate of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature
“The photographs [in Burnt Eyes] are nuanced and expressive, evoked by a poet’s eye.” —Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nobel laureate (Literature 2021)
GILLES NICOLET is a self-taught photographer who lived and worked in Africa for over 35 years. Now settled in Europe, he often returns to Africa to continue his photographic pursuits. With a long-standing interest in anthropology and ethnography, Nicolet’s photography initially focused on the unique traditions that connect people to wildlife and nature. However, as these traditions have now declined, his recent projects—from which the selection of images in Burnt Eyes was drawn—have taken on a more personal and reflective tone, exploring deeper emotional connections between individuals and their surroundings.
Nicolet’s photography has appeared in many notable international publications, including National Geographic, The Sunday Times Magazine, Paris-Match, Geo, and Smithsonian. He has received many awards, including the World Press Photo Award, the Fuji Award, and the HIPA Award. In 2018, he was a nominee for the Elliott Erwitt Havana Fellowship. Burnt Eyes is his second book, following Swahili (Editions Contrejour, 2019).
TANUR SHAH was born in Mumbai, India, in 1985. From a very young age, she shared an inexplicable connection with nature and animals. She moved to Tanzania in her early 20s to volunteer on conservation projects. She is passionate about wildlife conservation and cultural preservation. Shah also has a keen interest in philosophy, the arts, and questioning human behavior and society.
DAVID PILLING is the Africa editor and a columnist at Financial Times, focusing on business, politics, and development in Africa. Previously, he served as the Asia editor and held various roles, including Tokyo bureau chief and pharmaceuticals correspondent. He has authored two books: The Growth Delusion (2018), shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, and Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival (2016). Pilling is also a regular speaker and moderator for the FT and other organizations, including the World Bank, the OECD, and the ADB. In 2023, he briefed the G7 on concepts from The Growth Delusion.
Published by Skeleton Key Press, April 2026
ISBN 978-82-694125-2-9
21 x 27 cm (8.3 x 10.6 in)
Hardcover (clothbound/tipped-in image/foil stamped), 144 pages, 70 plates
Edited by Russell Joslin & Gilles Nicolet
Book design by Russell Joslin
Poetry by Tanur Shah; Foreword by David Pilling
Separations by aust.studio
Text in English
First Edition, 400 copies
For information on the Special Edition (book with print), please contact Gilles Nicolet.
