First published 2018
Rachel Cobb arrives in Provence with her camera, determined to photograph something that cannot be seen. The mistral wind funnels down the Rhône Valley at hurricane strength, reaching 120 kilometers per hour, shaping every aspect of life in the region. Cobb spends years pursuing this capricious force, learning to read its rhythms and effects. She discovers how locals have adapted over generations: houses built with no windows facing the wind, heavy stones anchoring roof tiles, strategic tree rows protecting crops. Through her lens, the invisible becomes visible in a leaf suspended mid-flight, a bride's veil whipping around her, spider webs angled to survive the gusts, and vineyard grapes bent by powerful currents. As one Châteauneuf-du-Pape winemaker tells her, you can taste wine better when the mistral blows. Cobb realizes she is not just documenting weather but capturing the soul of Provençal existence, where an unseen force touches everything.
Genres: nature, art, 20th-century, adventure, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, photography
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: nature, pursuit
Setting: Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Provence, Rhone Valley
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
192 pages · Hardcover · Damiani