BAN-LIEUX & Flag-ID

In 1996 I was commissionned by the cultural institution of Seine Saint Denis, the Northen suburbs of Paris to do a photo essay in partnership with the University Paris 8. I decided to work with the teenagers of the project housing. The result is a puzzle of twelve portrait forming a larger piece. It global feeling seams they can not escape the Urban perspectives of their environment mostly project housing. I worked over a year off and on to be able to get the trust of these young adults. The work was shot on medium format camera on negative. This work was exhibited during one year. Today it is part of the Contemporary Art Fond of Seine-Saint Denis to be borrowed. It was appreciated by Christian Caujolle (VU) and published by Libération, Photographie Magazine and Private. In 1998 I decided to push futher this photographic work together with the University. I treat the question of identity of this generation in relation to the media mirroring, picking social, politic and advertising topic they could read at the time in the newspaper, on television or find on the billboards. The color of tryptich is used here to reinforce the identity questioning about the fact that most of this generation is born in France from various origine. It took me another year and several attempt to find and gather all the same teenager and bringing them in a parisian photo studio to shoot the middle part of the tryptich. This place where they feel they don’t belong to becomes the central piece of the tryptich. Even though « Flag-ID » was published by several art revue it did not interested french Galeries nor cultural institutions until now.