Millennium Images contributor Maxime Crozet has launched a crowdfunding campaign for her latest photobook, Orients – Allers-Retours—a body of work shaped by over fifteen years of travel across regions often grouped under the term “the Orient.”
Published by Corridor Éléphant Éditions, the book is released as a limited, numbered, and signed collector’s edition. Printed in France and accompanied by photographic prints, the project reflects a commitment not only to visual storytelling but also to the craft of bookmaking itself.
At its core, Orients – Allers-Retours challenges the perceptions of the “Orient.” Through a sequence of black-and-white photographs, Crozet reveals a multiplicity of cultures, landscapes, and lived experiences, from Turkey to Iran to Iraq and beyond. Her work draws attention to human elements: hospitality, spirituality, architecture. and the distinct identities shaped by history, conflict, and tradition.
Rather than functioning as documentary photojournalism, the project offers something more contemplative. Crozet describes her approach as that of an independent, reflective traveler, attentive to atmosphere, light, and human presence. The use of black and white reinforces this intention, stripping away distraction to focus on emotion, texture, and narrative depth.
The book also carries a quiet but clear political awareness. It acknowledges the realities shaping the regions it explores, from the legacy of conflict to ongoing struggles affecting communities such as the Kurds and Uyghurs. In doing so, it becomes both a visual archive and a space for reflection, preserving fragile moments within rapidly changing environments.
The idea of “allers-retours” (round trips) is central to the project. It speaks not only to physical journeys, but to exchange: between cultures, perspectives, and ways of seeing. Crozet’s work invites viewers to move beyond stereotypes and engage with a more nuanced, human understanding of these regions.
By supporting the crowdfunding campaign, collectors and readers are not only acquiring a beautifully produced limited edition book, but also contributing to the realization of an independent artistic project. Each copy becomes a tangible link between the artist and the audience, an object that carries both aesthetic and cultural value.
The campaign is currently open for pre-orders, with options that include the book alone or bundles with signed photographic prints, support it here.
