In 2021, France hosted the consultative meeting of the Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, alongside a cultural and scientific season open to the general public throughout the polar summer.

As the planet inexorably warms, sea ice, permafrost, glaciers, and ice caps melt dramatically, and sea levels continue to rise, our fascination with the poles, both north and south, continues to grow. So does our concern, as the Arctic, Antarctic, and Subantarctic sound the climate alarm.
Twenty-six cities in France are hosting large-format photographs by Laurent Ballesta and Vincent Munier. Through their contrasting perspectives, the duality of the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps is revealed: deserted or overpopulated, harmonious or chaotic, silent or deafening. Vincent Munier on the ice and Laurent Ballesta beneath the surface.