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BACK IN 2010, French photographer Antoine Bruy began hitchhiking around Europe without any fixed route.
Along his travels, he met people who had entirely abandoned civilisation and gone off-grid, in favor of an isolated country existence, living off the land.
These stunning images, from his “Scrublands” project, show what he found:
Over the last 30 years, numerous Europeans have begun to move out of the cities and head for sparsely populated areas like the Sierra de Cazorla mountains in Spain (shown above), the French Pyrenees mountains, and parts of Switzerland.
Bruy began meeting such people after volunteering at farms through WWOOF, an organization that places traveling volunteers at organic farms throughout the world.
This property in the French Pyrenees is owned by a German man, who moved with his family here 25 years ago. He has since renovated the shack to be a completely self-sufficient house.
Although his family has left, the German continues to live here with four other people and a revolving door of 20 or so travelers.
This boy lives with his father on an adjacent property in the Pyrenees. They similarly live off the land without electricity.
This is a secondary living structure at the property in the Pyrenees. Though it looks small in the photo, the teepee is actually almost 30 feet tall.
This is where traveling volunteers stay during the summer months.
This man has been living at the house for the last two years.
This man raises goats and sheep with his wife in the province of Ardèche in southern-central, France.
This man is a nomadic shepherd from Germany, who travels from farm to farm in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland helping shepherd cows and sheep.
The English woman who owns this property got hit by a car while she was bicycling 20 years ago.
With the money from her settlement, she bought property in Spain and began building DIY living structures like this composting toilet.
Three families live in the Spanish dome and work together, maintaining a community garden of fruits and vegetables.
The land is owned by a web developer who spends half his day making websites and the other half maintaining the property.
This woman from Germany moved with her husband to Switzerland 20 years ago to escape a city lifestyle.
They are now completely self-sufficient, farming their own food. She was a literature and philosophy professor prior to moving to Switzerland.
Her husband was an engineer before leaving the city lifestyle.
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When you see them side-by-side you can better understand the wisdom of Benedict stepping down. His successor is far fresher and more energetic looking.
Very true, how are these popes supposed to make huge decisions within the church in their latter years. Good decision by Benedict.
Benedict is so frail :(
I was thinking the same thing Siobhan :(
Funny how Jesus never lived in a palace
Historic. May this be the start of something new. God bless em in their work.
Lovely to see but poor Benedict looks so frail.. :(
I totally agree Deidre and hope he breathes a breath of fresh air over the Catholic church .
I would dearly love to see Women taking more of a role and priests allowed to marry.
I really wish him every success and God speed.
Mike. Agreed. Its been a great first ten days. He looks like a man with energy and purpose who lives the Gospel.
My greatest wish would be that the youth would return to the Church. Hopefully he can inspire them
I would dearly love to see people (myself included) getting back to the church we love and need.
I had been so disillousioned but please God we get back to what our faith is about,peace,understanding and tolerance and a love of our faith.
I was happy to hear the Pope talking about creating a bond with Muslims and other faiths.
I am quite excited about this and I hope he makes the difference.
Amazing bit of history right there
a real genuine meeting….
Helicopter to lunch, as you do.
A deuce of Popes no one ever said before.
The craic was 90 between the two of them!
Live and let live. Born and raised RC but have not practiced for many tears. Still, I see Francis as a man who may yet reinvigorate the church.
Lets not forget all the good being done by the church too. And by church I mean the ordinary people within it.
John. That comment has made my day. I am a practising RC and very happy.
I am sad that so many have stopped attending church. And we have a generation that associates Catholicism only with child abuse. I am delighted with Pope Francis so far. Onwards and upwards i hope.
@ John.
Same here but I would like to think I will see change in the church and people like ourselves coming back.
The church has a long way to go but lets hope & pray .
I agree Mike.
I am delighted that so many Catholics have turned away from the RCC By doing this they are showing solidarity with the countless multitudes who have suffered at the hands of clerics internationally . Less and less people are being fooled by the hypocrisy , more and more are becoming enlightened and free . Thanks to technology , science and communication . I feel proud to belong to a group of a billion non believers on the planet. We must at all costs protect our youth from indoctrinaion by helping them to think critically for themselves and question everything. Replace religous myth and endoctrination with science fact. Dispel the false concept that a belief in god is a prequisite to being a good person.
Marvel Popes Assemble.
Religion is a fake man made. Look into it you will be shocked. All religions have the same characteristics virgin mother, the son, all have 12 people around them and all involve resurrection etc, how is that even possible.
I’m truly shocked.
61 thumbs down expected really, studied history, go back to Egyptian times look at what they worshiped look at the similarities it has to the way religion was created, look at how religions are so similar and all stem from what the Egyptians worshiped. They worshiped the sun with its halo of rays( thorns ) around it, the 12 stages of the sun( all religion has 12 people around the son) and much more, too long to explain and many people don’t want to believe it. But that’s their right, this was just research I did and the conclusion I came to.
I wouldn’t bother adelle, some people are so brain washed they will believe any non sense.
Adelle. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that religion is man made fiction. That probably explains half your red thumbs!
Adele
Quit while you’re behind!
Discovered this a few years ago as well, when my mum and I were chatting about the church I told her about, blew her mind completely.
For men of the poor they sure do like to fly by helicopter.
He says he would love to see a poor church for poor people, send him over the last fianna fail government, they will fix that for him pronto
Did Benedict borrow his jacket from Bianca Jackson?
They are breaking history,good to see them together
Didn’t realise Woody Allen was directing the next Star Wars movie with Benedict starring as Palpatine….
They look like boyfriends
we’re all going to heaven…weyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
History in the making amazing
Good call benedict.
They probably talked about how God made the speed of light 670 million MPH and how if that light left earth 100 years ago it would be around 20% across our own galaxy and that there are 400 billion galaxies and it was all made for humans who are in the creators likeness.
Oh yeah and how God doesn’t like gays.
I’m seeing double…4 popes!!!
Me Papa et u Papa
Im sure it was an exciting experience for both of them. Talking about communion and white hats, and other such epic topics.
It was far from a palace that Jesus was raised .
Francis seemed a bit in awe of Benedict as if he still considers him the boss.
The men in white
is Benedict wearing one of those padded pauls boutique jackets? long way from the Hugo boss he wore in his Nazi days …………. at least they have their support of a fascist regime in common ….. something to talk about i suppose
Castel Gandolfo! And where was Gandolf? He’d fit in lovely with the 2 boys. They may ask him to shave for the occasion, though!
guaranteed Brent Pope is feeling a little left out…
Does the old pope get to keep wearing his white hat even or should he wear a different one as I though white was just for the pope ? Anyone know ?
popes wear many hat’s, mostly what suits them at the moment
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