Nuits Balnéaires: Eboro

For the Nzima and Agni-Bona peoples of Côte d'Ivoire, the term Eboro refers to the origin point of all humanity, a place to which our immaterial double returns at the end of our existence to join its ancestors. Ivorian photographer Nuits Balnéaires draws on this cosmogony to explore his own journey: in what ways have his ancestors influenced his identity, his choices and his experiences? This transgenerational meditation is at the heart of the project he developed with the support of Latitudes. In 2025, Nuits Balnéaires became the second laureate of this programme created by the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès to support the international photographic scene, and organised in partnership with the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris and the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York (United States).

A multidisciplinary visual artist and poet, Nuits Balnéaires retraced the history of his family and its particular cultural heritage, resulting in “Eboro”, a contemplative series infused with nostalgia that lends itself to introspection. Set against the backdrop of the Gulf of Guinea, Nuits Balnéaires stages this personal quest through a visual cartography and a hybrid narrative that blends images and objects created in collaboration with local craftspeople. In this way, “Eboro” functions as a tale, a metaphor for a deep reflection of the nature of our earthly existence.

Nuits Balnéaires was born in 1994 in Abidjan, where he also grew up. He chose his pseudonym, which could be translated as “Seaside Nights”, as an homage to the shore, a space where the natural elements express themselves fully. As part of the second edition of Latitudes – coordinated under the mentorship of David Campany, director of the ICP