In 1994 the mail-order company 3 SUISSES asked Claude Iverné to think about producing an overall image of the company. Iverné convinced them to let him produce portraits of the employees as an outline.
In the north, there are people. The real people. Those who suffered so that we could be free. The people who slaved away, who confronted the horse guards, who built industry, who by their work attracted many other people from the south and the east, from Krakow, from Catalonia or Blida.
These photos and these faces were needed to see again the people who where the strength of the businesses. Each face carries a history that can only be read in close-up on television where the Americans permanently dominate. All these histories are our history that is too often hidden away. The France that we watch with names that sound like rare birds, that are our people: packer, truck driver, welder, mail orderly, forklift driver, auditor, traveller, computer programmer, director of communications, boss.
Through these images, the period has its crosses to bear. A wink at Dallas, a shot of a big moto, a hand that is the memory of miners’ cottages, faces that can be proud of themselves, stars thanks to photography, of hardness and tenderness.
It is rare for a company to be displayed so proudly in all its nakedness. Only the photographer knows how to put value on the soul. It is also true of the bosses in the portrait you can see their concern like a shadow of uncertainty.
I like this collective strength. I like that the strength that come from the north, in a successful business whose bosses I nicknamed the Texans. In Paris, we have the poor habit of seeing success in the provinces like New York still views the Texans. These rich guys you can hoodwink. Their eyes,show the imbecility of such an attitude. In Houston, Texas, the oil-rich Texans have learnt to make fun of these fast-talkers without it being seen. Here it’s the opposite.Working fulfil these men and they are not easily taken-in.
Jean François Bizot
Jean François Bizot, who died in 2007, was the former publishing director of the magazine Actuel and the co-founder of Radio Nova.
Claude Iverné, Bilad es Sudan
From 11th May to 30th July 2017
Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson
2 Impasse Lebouis
75014 Paris
France
