Rue Gaston Monmousseau, the Minguettes, Vénissieux, close to Lyon, France. It’s a very atypical landscape that unfolds before the visitor’s eyes. On the tower block to the right, bordering the road, giant black and white photographs are mounted in groups of four or five, each group surrounding a window or weaving on the wall. A name written black on white goes with each series.
This scene is the result of the works of thirteen secondary school students who took part in a photography workshop offered by the social centre of the neighbourhood (Eugénie Coton). during last November holidays , Lucie Moraillon and Antoine Boureau, two photographic artists, accompanied by Samy Bendjama, the permanent youth sector organiser, came to present this workshop to the teenagers. Thirteen of them were interested: “It was tempting”, Mattéo, 14 years old, simply summed it up. For two weeks, they learnt the rudiments of the analogue camera, how to use it, how to develop the photographs. “We were together in the mornings, and in the afternoons, they let us roam around with the cameras”, explained Samy. He suggested that they worked on a theme. “In the beginning, you took everything and anything”, said Mattéo. “The theme came from what was shot as we went along”.
In this way, each of them personalised his or her theme according to what they wanted to express. “Each one had a different point of view of their neighbourhood, that was what was interesting”, explained Samy. Madiba, 12 years old, centred her work around a series of funny faces. “That’s what I liked, when we went to the market, I asked people if they would pull a face, and snap, I took the photo”. Bilel, 14, wished to show his neighbourhood, the tower blocks. “He wanted to give it some value, because it’s something that he loves.” Samy explained. Mattéo, himself, was the only one who produced a series of staged images. And finally, Wassim, 12, delivered a remarkable set of portraits of his friends in low-key chiaroscuro.
Otherwise, the young people were modest when spoken to about their work. They put forward some ideas, some words. What did you want to express through these photographs? “The neighbourhood, the friendship…”. The photographs will keep their mystery. It doesn’t seem desirable for the artists to put words to them. These photographs immortalise the life that took place between these walls, “between the towers”. They reflect the joy, the hope, the strength of the friendships.
Marion Moret
Marion Moret is a journalist based in Marseille, in France.
For more information:
http://www.icfhabitat.fr/groupe/expo-photos-minguettes-vernissage
