In the 1960s and 1970s in Provence, farmers and merchants worked in the morning and met in the afternoon for hotly contested games of pétanque. Regardless of age, Hans Silvester explains: "The quality of the gesture is half the game. If you have a harmonious body, you can hit the ball exactly where you want it.".

From his first trip to Provence, Hans Silvester was fascinated by the petanque players, an activity that was widely practiced in the region. When he moved to Provence a few years later, he was introduced to the game of boules with local figures. He came across famous players whom he immortalised in his photographs, such as the gamekeeper of Murs, "Chinche", who is among the best known and most prized photos. He gradually made a place for himself by developing the photos and taking them to the players the next day, and was thus able to immortalise some anthology photographs...

Retour De Voyage has selected this photograph by Hans Silvester which perfectly illustrates the technicality of pétanque.