Betty Ferrer, editor of OpenEye magazine, invites you to reflect on these images of the past, made up of personal memories and the charms of the café of yesteryear…
À retrouver dans OPENEYE #31
Jeff Goffart presents a series of photos in black and white : “Le café Toussaint”. This is the café he knew as a teenager, when he accompanied his father to the billiards room. This father, whom he says he didn’t know very well, was passionate about billiards, and used to come and play every day at lunchtime. This was in Brussels. The photos tell us what the boy was undoubtedly observing attentively… Here, people come to have a coffee, a glass of wine, a cigarette, to meet up, chat, talk about anything and everything – it’s a convivial moment that breaks the solitude and comforts. The café is like a second home.
Another photo takes us into the restaurant; it’s crowded, noisy, and there’s bound to be a lot of laughter. It’s a great opportunity to dine together, enjoy food with family and friends… And there’s a live band too! What wonderful memories! The music brings a warm, festive atmosphere, and couples dance…
And above all, there’s the billiard room, where Feff Goffart is happily immersed, no doubt enjoying watching his father, observing his game… the photos describe precisely what the boy saw: there’s the player leaning forward on the table; he’s about to hit the ball with a cue. The man is concentrating. There is silence in the room, no noise. The waiter behind the bar is watching. The player’s eye assesses the direction of the shot. The other player is watching. Further away, another player is leaning over his table. The decor of the room is sober, the billiard tables, lit by lamps, take up all the space. And this is the world in which his father was immersed, a world that Jeff Gossart observed, no doubt with affection, perhaps also with admiration and the pleasure he had in sharing these moments of life with him.
He explains that he studied in the medical field, and has always had a passion for photography. It’s the world of photography that has enabled him to produce these images that bear witness to the past! These photos are beautiful, they speak to us, they charm us: what is done with passion is always beautiful! Today, the Café Toussaint is a wonderful place to socialise, but the photographer regrets that the billiard rooms have disappeared. The café Toussaint has been modernised”, he says with regret. Parts of his life have disappeared…
