Caught by the River

New in the Shop: Courir & Useless Fighters #1

19th July 2024

Our ongoing mission to stock our Bandcamp shop with weird, wonderful and under-the-radar print matter has this week resulted in the addition of two fantastic new titles.

The first, Courir, sees  photographer David Simpson opens his 30-year archive on Louisiana’s rural Mardi Gras traditions.

Every year, as Ash Wednesday approaches, rural communities in Southwest Louisiana come alive with Mardi Gras courirs—spirited runs where costumed revellers embark on a captivating journey.

David Simpson, through his lens, captures the enchanting Mardi Gras in a photographic narrative, as they go from house to house, singing, dancing, and begging for ingredients to create a communal “gumbo” feast. The rich symbolism behind the costumes, from high-pointed conical hats parodying noble headdresses to handmade masks concealing identities with exaggerated facial features here, is a passionate portrayal of roles that mock authority, a tradition deeply rooted in Cajun and Creole heritages in a compiled archival work by David Simpson spanning over thirty years.


Amidst the festive quest and perhaps fueled by a bit of alcohol, the Mardi Gras participants find liberation from the restraints of everyday life, creating a gaudy pageant that is both raucous and jubilant based on rural traditions dating back to medieval times. This photography work stands as a homage to their time-honoured tradition.

Published by Flee
bilingual edition (English / French)
128 pages, OTA Bind, hardcover, sewn
G Print Arctic 115gsm paper
17.5×24.5cm

edition of 300

Buy yours here (£22.50).

The second addition is the bumper 1st issue of Useless Fighters — a beautiful new left-field magazine about the mountains you don’t know. It resists, says its publishers, the tired clichés of snow play and Alpine tourism, to show how fascinating and important mountains are to culture, politics, identity, sport, and the world.

A contemporary biannual that reimagines the mountains for a new audience — through photography, fashion, art, personalities, sport, conversation and narrative.

A document of the people who live, work, ride, climb, cross, play, explore, hike, drive across and creatively engaged withmountain ranges.

Do you know about the world’s largest cave in Vietnam, discovered only 15 years ago, so deep and wide it has its own underground mountains?

The immense beauty of the people and the landscapes excluded from the Euro-centric vision of the mountains and tourism is precisely what is so dear to us and that we have decided to share with you.

Who owns the likeness of the mountains on the logos of Paramount Pictures, Evian or the North Face?

Why have microplastics been found on Mount Everest?

Useless Fighters #1 also sheds light on the business — sometimes a dirty business — of the mountain: How much polyester do brands of technical gear and outdoor clothing use, spreading crazy amounts of microplastics in nature and slowly poisoning it with every hike?

The title of the magazine is a tribute to Lionel Terray’s “Les Conquérants de l’inutile” (“Conquerors of the useless”) and speaks to the strange need among hikers to risk their lives to reach new summits, go where no human has gone before, to look from new vantage points at this world threatened by global warming and pollution.

A pointless fight? Maybe. But an utterly beautiful one.

This is a lushly produced publication that takes one of the most important landforms on Earth as a starting point to look at creativity, politics and culture.

With contributions from artists, photographs and fashion creators such as Francis Alÿs, Lea Colombo, Setsumasa Kobayashi, Philippe Parreno, Yukari Chikura, Nigel Cabourn, Marvin Leuvrey, Abdellah Taïa, Francesca Gavin, Karim Boukercha, Quentin De Briey, Daquisiline Gomis…

It’s a document of the people who live, work, ride, climb, cross, play, explore, hike, drive across and creatively engage with mountain ranges.

Buy yours here (£35).

Browse many other titles besides — including those we have published ourselves! — here.