“There is only one night, there is only one city, there is only one road.
Along the Highway, the night is passing by. Insomniac and fragile. Made invisible by the metal shell and the speed of my vehicle, I invite myself where I have not been invited.
Protected by the discretion of the night, I surprised in a flash moment these people inside their home. I dine at their table, I watch their TV, I sleep in their bed. Suddenly, their intimacy so rare and precious is simply offered to me. As a silent invitation, I am with the Other.
I watch my intimate Anonymous. They are much more than the story that contains them. They are these millions of solitudes which forms the heart of the cities.
In Tokyo or Cairo, in Sao Paulo or Hong Kong, Bombay or Calcutta, I begin a dialogue, in the heart of the night. As in a ring, I get up on this Highway, to seize these samples of life.
These photographs, in black and white, taken on the fly, from the flyover which crosses the city. Against the lazy night, in suspense, a multitude of lighted windows, like so many promises. They reveal micro worlds: simple or overloaded, overflowing or solitary, this je ne sais quoi I am looking for along the highways.
Lost Highway tells this part common to all great cities, where borders no longer exists. Families are of the same love, loneliness of the same muted violence, wait of the same slowness: all same sighs of a universal language.
There is only one night, there is only one city, there is only one road.”
Chantal Stoman
Born in 1967, Chantal Stoman is a French, Paris-based photographer.
Weekend portfolio selected by W.M Hunt
