I grew up in a housing estate
Back then, when I went on vacation, I loved to look at postcards of the places I visited. There was something for everyone, from the most romantic image to the most kitsch or gravelly. I liked to choose carefully which ones to send to friends and grandparents, or to keep for myself as a souvenir.
Once the vacations were over, my family and I moved back into our little apartment, surrounded by high-rise buildings. Having gone to school in a more middle-class environment, I soon realized that I shouldn’t make too much of the place I lived in. Some children were never allowed to come when I invited them to my birthday party.
So it came as no surprise when, a few decades later, I discovered that there was a time when people were proud to live in these neighborhoods and would send postcards.
Having moved back to a bar in the La Noue, Les Guilands and Clos Français neighborhoods between Bagnolet and Montreuil in Seine-Saint-Denis, I decided to make my own postcards. A way of showing that – without denying the problems of precariousness and poverty that can reign in some of these neighborhoods – you can also live happily and find inspiration there.
