AU BONHEUR DES DAMES

 Text by Amélie Gressier

“Mirrors, by a calculated game, reflected them endlessly. […] The world stopped to look at them.” Emile Zola, Au Bonheur des Dames

We have no face. We are neither inside, nor outside. Without the city, we don’t exist. Without us, she would be dull.  She would be too dull.

We face her. We watch her. She does not know it.

Between us, a few millimeters of transparency, and you. You that are us. Same height, same shape, same volume. The only difference, a face. Eyes to see and to watch. See the city, and watch us.

But sometimes, it’s the other way around. And then, we watch the city together. You step aside, like that, slightly shifted, not to block the view from us, and you see her aslant, sometimes blurry, skewed, at the limits of abstract. You distort perspective. You sense the city differently, you consider her your way, but when you turn around, she is there again, made of trees, stone and iron, buses and cars, men and women. Made of you.

You should lend us your face. Just for a moment. So that we too, could change perspective. To turn the city around, and discover her a new way.

The series has been shot in 28 cities in 18 countries.

2016 – ongoing