A Gris-gris is like a talisman, amulet, or charm... Many terms are associated with the idea of things that bring luck. They can take so many forms: a four-leaf clover, statuette, shark’s tooth, stone, bead, or dried flower. Each relates to customs and traditions that vary according to the culture and period, but all bear precious witness to beliefs that inspire humans.

Bensimon has a collector’s soul. He is from a family of antique dealers and, at a very early age, he developed a passion for art and objects generally, seeing them as his gris-gris. He surrounds himself with an array of objects—statuettes, bracelets, charms—that comfort and protects him while questioning his relationship with the world. Each item has a story and identity that he invests in and shares with the people around him. This adoption process goes hand in hand with a creative one: the design of his own gris-gris. For many years, he has been taking photographs to immortalize his colorful compositions made up of various objects gathered during his walks and trips between sessions of filming or photography. Depending on the places he visits, he spontaneously assembles and combines materials worn by time and abandoned by people, as if in meditation on life and the interdependence of things. String, feathers, flowers, fabrics, seashells, glass polished by the waves, fishing nets, iron wire, and pieces of wood enter into a harmonious dialogue that holds the secret of their making. His gris-gris is laid on the ground or perched on wooden sticks, often raised towards the sky or facing the sea. “I would like them to fly away occasionally,”7 he told me. Sometimes left as offerings to nature, his transient talismans live on through the medium of photography, used to record such chance encounters. Aside from their unquestionable aesthetic qualities, his short-lived constructions redefine the very idea of the gris-gris, giving it a universal meaning closely linked to the natural elements, together with cosmic and initiatory qualities.

Currently, Gilles is an active commercial, fashion, and editorial international photographer. He lives and works in New York.