Ruins by Raphaël Dallaporta

In autumn 2010, Raphael Dallaporta travelled to Bactria, northern Afghanistan, with a specially created pacifist drone. Designed to give a French- Afghan archaeological team a new perspective on its fieldwork, it photographed the historical palimpsest on the ground, capturing Achaemenid Empire-era fortifications and the remains of an aqueduct built by a long-extinct civilization, as well as surveying the strategic mountain passes used by Alexander the Great.

Ruins is a photographic record of the drone’s flights and the traces left by history, as well as a testament to a unique adventure.