Arnaud François Adjahuime, known by the pseudonym Nauld, is a Beninese photographer and visual artist whose work explores the boundary between documentary and artistic photography. Specializing in highlighting African traditions and spiritual rituals, he uses images as a bridge between the visible and the invisible, between memory and the present.

His project “Mouvement Sacré des Âmes” (Sacred Movement of Souls), carried out in Benin, more precisely in Ouidah in the sacred forest, seeks to capture the spiritual and symbolic dimension of places steeped in history. Through a subtle interplay between abstraction and figuration, he seeks to restore the energy and immaterial presence of the rituals of the deity Egoun-goun and African beliefs. 

At the same time, Nauld documents the daily life of artisans, markets, and landscapes in Benin, combining an ethnographic perspective with visual poetry. His work has been exhibited and recognized with various artistic awards, demonstrating a unique approach to the image as a tool for cultural transmission and dialogue between past and present. 

During his residency, Nauld hopes to deepen his research on the memory of places and spirituality by exploring new narrative forms that integrate photography, sound, and testimonials. He aspires to create works that question the relationship between the sacred and the forgotten, between cultural heritage and modernity.

Residency project:
 
“Sacred Remains: Whispers of Time” is a photographic exploration of the memory imbued in heritage sites. This project aims to reveal the history buried in the textures, shadows, and materials of spaces that have stood the test of time. Through a poetic and sensory approach, it seeks to visually translate the dialogue between the past and the present, capturing the invisible imprint of souls and lost stories.

Through a series of images composed of subtle contrasts and visual overlays, the project questions how humans shape their environment and how it, in turn, keeps track of their passage. Far from being a simple documentation, this photographic work is akin to a quest for suspended moments, where the sacred dialogues with time.