Artist and photographer Sophie Ristelhueber's best shot

In February 1991, during the first Gulf war, I saw a photograph in Time magazine showing the impact of French bombs on the Kuwait desert. The idea of doing a work about this wounded land became an obsession. In October, I finally got a visa and went out there. I arrived in the war's aftermath. The oil wells were still burning; although they were beautifully dramatic, I took few pictures of them. Instead, the trip gave birth to a series, Fait (Fact), which consists of 71 images capturing the marks on the land: shots taken from an aeroplane or helicopter, but also from the ground. The series is not, however, about the Gulf war as such. I don't give any clue that this is Kuwait. When I exhibited it in Johannesburg, people thought it was Africa; they recognised the sand, weapons and trails of violence. I like the idea of enlarging the point of view. For this shot, I was flying over the desert and knew exactly what I was looking for: all those traces, the lines of the trenches. I was so excited I didn't realise that what I was looking at echoed Dust Breeding , a famous photograph by Man Ray. It wasn't until I got home and saw the contact sheet that I spotted the connection. Dust Breeding, taken in 1920, shows part of Duchamp's The Large Glass , an art work on panes of glass that had been left for a year and was covered in dust. Man Ray's shot is a huge influence on me because of the way it plays with scale. If you compare it with my shot, you'd think it was ingrained in my head. At the time, I was embarrassed. I put it away: I thought it looked too obvious, like I'd copied Man Ray. But I eventually showed it. I call it Because of Dust Breeding. CV Born: 1949, France Studied: Literature at the Sorbonne Influences: World events High point: Knowing what to do Low point: Not knowing what to do Top tip: Keep going, hold on