Pascal Claude: Your most recent journey, leaving a mark at the edge of the world, in the Southern Lands, on the Kerguelen Islands, closest to wild life. Where does your taste for travel come from?
Emmanuel Lepage: My father was a sailor in the French Navy, he joined at 17. I had his certificate of crossing the equator in my room, it fascinated me. As a child, I would think “my father, he sailed around the world on a boat”. And that, I think, really fueled my imagination. I also read a lot of comic books, a lot of Belgian comic books, it’s really where my imagination blossomed. Belgium, I often say it’s my imaginary country. Because I first knew Belgium through comics like Tintin and Spirou without knowing it was Belgium.
And I also traveled a lot with my parents when I was a child and a teenager. I enjoyed preparing for the trips, we had a small truck, and I would prepare the route, supplies, I think that’s where my love for travel started. But the habit of drawing while traveling, that is having a sketchbook with me, came later when I was studying architecture. We were encouraged to always have a sketchbook with us to take notes, make sketches and I realized at that moment that drawing while traveling was absolutely extraordinary. First, to meet people but also to learn to draw in very different conditions from those of the studio. And it also taught me not to be afraid of others’ opinions, because when you draw on the street, there are always people watching you, and also to accept drawings that are imperfect. In fact, it’s okay to make a mistake in a drawing. So, it’s not so much about the journey itself but the journey through drawing.
