Author: Pierre Bessard

Kristin Trüb said: Heute heißt es Abschied nehmen.
Pierre Bessard vom Verlag Éditions Bessard wird die Kamera, mit der ich meine Arbeit “Letzte Generation Ost” fotografiert habe, sowie einige Zwischenstände in Portugal ausstellen.
Gute Reise und lieben Dank, Pierre!

От автора

Несколько лет назад во Владивостоке мой друг Ирина рассказала мне о «тургеневских девушках» — женском образе, который ей был очень близок.

«Тургеневские девушки» происходят из книг Ивана Тургенева, но их образ исказился со временем. Героини Тургенева ради своих убеждений готовы были пойти на конфликт с обществом. Сейчас под «тургеневской девушкой» понимают особу, идеалистически настроенную и мягкую, сентиментальную и хрупкую, живущую в мечтах и испытывающую проблемы с отношениями во внешнем мире.

Мы с Ириной составили перечень примет современных «тургеневских девушек»: скромные, простые, романтичные, хороших манер, женственные, избегают яркого макияжа, вульгарности и агрессивной сексуальности, одеваются в стиле ретро, любят винтажную одежду, увлечены литературой и классической музыкой, играют на музыкальных инструментах, говорят на нескольких иностранных языках (чаще всего французском и итальянском), умеют танцевать вальс, заливаются краской, услышав грубые выражения, придерживаются строгих моральных принципов, происходят из разных социальных классов, не являются частью одного сообщества…

Я сделал портреты таких девушек, живущих как в Москве, так и в небольших городах Юга России, — в привычной им среде, за их любимой деятельностью или на фоне местного пейзажа — и сопроводил фотографии короткими текстами об их жизни.

see the link here: http://www.colta.ru/galleries/specials/9341#ad-image-0

Our ‘self’ is one of the most fascinating things that we have the privilege of exploring, and, arguably, the camera is the best tool in order to do so. While the #selfie might be an in-recent-years social media phenomenon, women have been pioneering the self-portrait for decades. Dutch artist Hester Scheurwater uses the medium of the image to challenge the role of the woman as mere sex object, through the use of props like mirrors – which she uses to juxtapose her inner monologue with her outer appearance.

“I have always felt the urge to stage the self, or myself,” she says. “By staging myself as a sex object, not in a way as seen by others but in a self-directed and a self-chosen pose, I shoot back at the way women are shown as sex objects in a fake way. I want to use a rawness and realness in the images by using my own body and ‘kinks’. Like Sacha Grey liked to say, ‘In our society, we use sex to sell everything’. Everything! We use it to sell sneakers, and microwave meals. It’s okay to show your tits, but it’s not okay to talk about what your ‘kinks’ are when you’re a woman.’ I try, almost obsessively, to comply with this image through self-portraiture. These fantasy images are reminiscent of desires, fears, temptation, seduction, violence and sex – self-images as sex objects, devoid of any commercial frills; knowing full well that I can never compete or live up to the image.”

Inspired by artists like Claude Cahun, Cindy Sherman, Francesca Woodman and Egon Schiele, Scheurwater explains, “From my early years I have always had a special interest and curiosity in work of artists using sexually loaded themes or artists working with self-portrait, but also by the pornographic poses and commercial images that surround us.”

On the question of what differentiates porn from art, she muses, “It’s a difficult question because everything can be art and as soon as a conceptual artist says porn is art, it is art. For me, the difference is that porn is made for sexual stimulation, and, from a commercial point of view, while art and in particular my art, is not. I am aware that the poses in my work have a strong connection to porn poses.”

« A French youth » is a story that takes the opposite view to stereotypes and prejudices regarding French working-class areas and people who are suffering. It’s a story about a certain misunderstanding of French history : most of French citizens have foreign roots and their personal stories are marked by migration. But they are suffering from a poor public image. And the January 15th terrorist attacks in Paris have contributed to their stigmatization.
Nowadays, the French youth living in the working-class areas is for a large part Muslim and from the African continent. They build the multicultural French society. These young people are an evidence of present times. They are an indication for the future. The documentary “ A French youth” doesn’t want to give a naïve and optimistic picture of reality. Its main aim is to deal with reality, shed light on these unknown faces and share the everyday life of youth from French poor areas. Following an imaginary line running from the Northern districts of Amiens to the Northern neighbourhoods of Marseille, through suburbs in Paris and Lyon, “A French youth” picks up, step by step, through encounters, the issues young people have to face.
Following several personal itineraries, for a few weeks, we live with them side by side in their environment, and share their joy and their sorrow. “A French Youth” documents a History of the present time.
The northern districts of Amiens are characterized by the presence of white people and a melting pot. Emmanuel is 23 years old. He has just got out of jail after serving a 5 year sentence.
Now he returns to his family flat, in the “Pigeonnier” area. He’s back with his mother and sister. Emmanuel picks up the old habits of his neighborhood’s building n°9, places where he is also used to killing time with his childhood fellows. This is the story of a young man, who first was rejected by the educational system, who was then unable to find a job, but still struggles to find his way. However, a few months later, Emmanuel disappears. No one knows where he is. A new Court decision has decided he would shortly be forced to return to prison. He couldn’t cope with the idea and run away.
The Paris suburbs are separated from the national capital by a super-ring road round the city. It is an impassable frontier for young people from suburbs. Ali is 15. He was brought up in a single parent and modest home and left school early. Now, he aimlessly wanders in his neighborhood of Villetaneuse (Seine-Saint-Denis department). This is the only place where he feels safe. He is afraid to get in trouble with young people from neighboring areas and doesn’t feel comfortable anywhere else. It is a physical and a mental barrier that afflicts a number of young people from the suburbs. Mehdi, 19, lives in Épinay (Seine-Saint-Denis). He too dropped out of school at 16 without a diploma. He too wanders in his district. Under pressure from his mother, Mehdi has decided to take training conducted by a local association. This organization offers him refresher courses, helps him define his own targets and build his professional project.
This gloomy scene must not overshadow opportunities. Saber, 23, lives in Les Mureaux, a distant suburb, south of Paris. He also had training but he symbolizes creativity, excellence and use of initiative within this youth. Indeed, he is a new entrepreneur, and set up a street trading food company. Furthermore, Saber’s aim is to leave his neighbourhood and the life that goes with it.
Indeed, many young people from suburbs constantly feel the need to leave it. “Les Halles” is a shopping centre in the heart of Paris connected by public transport to the suburbs. Every week-ends, large groups of young boys, girls, lovers come in from their neighborhood in search of new horizons and tranquillity.
The Lyon suburbs have been the scenes of riots since the 80’s. No one expects anything any more from the political system. The youth from these suburbs have given up expecting anything from left-wing parties, unlike the previous generation who had hopes to achieve a better life. The present generation feel that they have to take care of their future themselves, including by using unlawful ways. The divorce is pronounced with the Republic and the system in place which they face.
Béné, 15, lives in Vaulx-en-Velin, south neighborhood. Even if he is strongly attached to his regional identity, he turns his back to the values and questions the legitimacy of the Republic. The void tends to be filled by religions: Islam and evangelical Christianity. Wafa, 23, lives in Saint-Étienne, a few kilometers away. She has a deep faith. She has worn her hijad for 3 years and she turned her attention to her Muslim community. This is also in her view an appropriate answer to the way women are considered in her district, a response to the phoney promises from society and its market goals.
The Northern part of Marseille has been the subject of media spotlight due to a series of murders linked to drugs cartels. But there’s more to this youth’s everyday life than what these highlights show.
It’s true that many of them experience a routine violence from an early age.
Young inhabitants from Pyat quarter called “Guirri” formed a gangsta rap band. The lyrics of their songs describe young dealers’s everyday life. They are aged between 17 and 22. They run their own drug deals and they are familiar with street fights, but at the same time they try to build a future for their rap group. They are even models for children, like Béné from Lyon who follows them on Facebook. A lot of young people are more or less involved with unlawful activities. Sometimes, they are involved in smuggling narcotics for a few euro but the rest of the time, they attend school or try to find employment with difficulty.

« My maternal grandfather lives on the other side of the lake, she says. At 85, he still lives in his house, a typical isba of our Russia. In his house, after crossing the doorstep, I feel as if in another era: a carved shelf covered with the works of the great Russian authors, an antique chest of drawers, a Singer sewing machine, a huge wooden radio receiver with white keys similar to those of a piano and two big knobs on either side.
I remember being alone with him one afternoon, it was during a Easter holiday, there was a rainbow. He was listening to the radio, sitting in his armchair, not saying a word. At some point, he dozed off and I dared turn the big knob to the wavelengths of faraway cities, Berlin, Vilnius, Prague, Hilversum, Tashkent… Crackles, snatches of music, speech, words. I had had the feeling that they were ghosts, wandering souls that wanted to pass on some messages to me. »

26 miles across the Pacific Ocean from the tangled mess of humanity that is Los Angeles and Orange County sits an island paradise called Santa Catalina where time has stood still and visitors can experience what California was like before the Europeans sailed in. Adventures in the Nearby Far Away is a photographic diary of my many visits to the island over the years, a place I have been visiting since I was a boy, and been documenting photographically since the late 90¹s. All photos are shot on film. – Ed Templeton

“My maternal grandfather lives on the other side of the lake, she says. At 85, he still lives in his house, a typical isba of our Russia. In his house, after crossing the doorstep, I feel as if in another era: a carved shelf covered with the works of the great Russian authors, an antique chest of drawers, a Singer sewing machine, a huge wooden radio receiver with white keys similar to those of a piano and two big knobs on either side.
I remember being alone with him one afternoon, it was during a Easter holiday, there was a rainbow. He was listening to the radio, sitting in his armchair, not saying a word. At some point, he dozed off and I dared turn the big knob to the wavelengths of faraway cities, Berlin, Vilnius, Prague, Hilversum, Tashkent… Crackles, snatches of music, speech, words. I had had the feeling that they were ghosts, wandering souls that wanted to pass on some messages to me.”

and in French an article about his work:

Les Filles de Tourguéniev
projet photographique de Philippe Herbet

L’écrivain russe Ivan Sergueïevitch Tourguéniev a créé dans ses romans et nouvelles des personnages de jeunes femmes que l’on pourrait facilement qualifier de « romantiques ». Ses héroïnes sont introverties, très sensibles, elles ont grandi dans des domaines éloignés de la ville, loin de la haute société ou en marge. Elles ont entre 17 et 25 ans, elle sont volontiers capricieuses, indépendantes, rebelles, dans la mesure où les femmes pouvaient l’être au XIXe siècle. Rebelles car elles suivent toujours leurs idées : elles aiment qui elles aiment et suivent l’inclinaison de leurs coeurs, en dépit des avis défavorables de leurs familles ou de leurs tuteurs, certaines sont des enfants naturels.
Elles sont remarquables et remarquées, pas toujours belles au sens plastique du terme, elles peuvent être considérées comme des laiderons, mais elles sont toujours très charmantes, désarmantes, imprévisibles; insaisissables. Idéalistes, en recherche d’elles-mêmes, en quête du vrai, du beau, du haut, d’une certaine forme de pureté ; elles ont en elles beaucoup de volonté. Entêtées, elles se fixent des objectifs et, avec beaucoup de détermination, elles n’hésitent pas à se sacrifier pour l’accomplissement de leurs idées. Oui, sentimentales, mais aussi plus, un engagement envers leurs sentiments.
Ainsi, les premières femmes « émancipées » de la Russie de la fin du XIXe siècle s’étaient mises à « imiter » ces héroïnes, ces personnages de papier et d’encre. Elles sont tombées en désuétude au temps de la Révolution de 1917. Jusqu’au début des années trente, elles sont considérées comme des « reliques » du XIXe siècle, mais au cours de la seconde guerre mondiale, elles reviennent au devant de la scène, elles sont alors vues comme des héroïnes et le personnage de Fille de Tourguéniev devient une sorte d’idéal.
Le temps passant, leurs caractères se sont donc peu à peu éloignés des romans et nouvelles de Tourguéniev, pour devenir des femmes émancipées, des héroïnes, des personnages liés au passé, voire passéistes, avec une dimension soit péjorative, soit affirmative d’une identité. On les désigne comme étant des filles romantiques, idéalistes, tendres, pleurnicheuses, sentimentales, poétiques, fines, touchantes, qui ne savent ou ne veulent pas s’adapter au monde contemporain, modestes, démodées, elles ne se teignent pas les cheveux, se maquillent très discrètement – lorsqu’elles se maquillent -, dansent la valse, rougissent lorsqu’elles entendent des impolitesses, elles ont des principes moraux bien établis et solides, dévouées, elles appartiennent à différentes couches sociales, elles ne sont pas réunies en réseau.
Je suis allé à leur découverte à Saint-Pétersbourg, à Moscou, à Minsk et dans les campagnes de la Russie profonde, là où étaient sis les domaines de Tourguéniev, de Tolstoï, d’Ivan Bounine et de Bakounine. Et je les ai photographiées chez elles, dans les rues et j’ai associé à leurs photos des éléments symboliques liés à leurs existences comme le lait, la pomme, l’arbre, les icônes… J’avais en tête toute une iconographie liée à la Renaissance italienne et au XVIIe siècle hollandais qui m’a nourri lors de mes prises de vues.
J’ai observé deux tendances à l’heure actuelle, l’une concerne plutôt des jeunes femmes vraiment démodées, ternes, pas très ouvertes sur le monde contemporain, voire alternatives, plus « intègres » par rapport au caractère original. Elles cousent des robes, tricotent, ne lisent que de la littérature classique, n’écoutent que de la musique classique, mènent une vie saine, s’alimentent de produits naturels, elles tournent le dos à l’agitation. Une autre tendance, plus à l’opposé, s’accommode beaucoup plus du monde d’aujourd’hui, il s’agit plutôt de femmes adeptes d’une mode néo-rétro, vintage, s’accompagnant parfois d’un retour à des valeurs solides, aux spécificités ultra locales, voire nationalisantes. Une mode ? Une marque de luxe russe a ouvert des boutiques à Moscou dont les collections sont inspirées du XIXe siècle et des filles de Tourguéniev : villaturgenev.ru.
Les Filles de Tourguéniev du XXI siècle sont, comme nous l’avons deviné plurielles, elles sont de plus en plus populaires et font partie d’un paysage culturel russe – au sens large – en pleine redéfinition. Il est parfois difficile de déceler celles qui suivent une mode vintage, comme un peu partout dans le monde, et si cette mode est un reflet de valeurs traditionnelles ou d’une nostalgie de temps meilleurs, plus doux ; de celles, plus originales, plus originelles, des personnages créés par Tourguéniev. Il y a, certes, des gradations qui dépendent, naturellement, de leur environnement social (étant donné, je le qu’elles appartiennent à différentes couches sociales et qu’elles ne sont pas en « réseau »).
Les filles de Tourguéniev sont dans le temps et hors du temps, dans le monde et hors du monde. S’extraire du monde dans son mouvement superficiel, du monde des « apparences », du monde de l’actualité, de l’agitation, du faux, du brillant où, finalement, rien ne brûle, c’est prendre une position, c’est un acte, et même un engagement. Peut-être sont-elles des résistantes, du moins certaines d’entre elles.
Je les sens aussi très proches de ces femmes de Vermeer, dans leurs maisons monde, qui traversent les siècles pour nous ravir et toujours nous parler de notre humanité.
Peut-être que ces filles n’existent pas, elles ne sont qu’un idéal, un cliché, des images, une image, une image collective récupérée par la mode dans certains cas et, dans d’autres, par ce désir de s’identifier, de se singulariser. Rêves, utopie. Je n’en sais rien.
Une monographie paraîtra chez Bessard à Paris réunissant un corpus de photographies, de textes liés à mes rencontres et de documents.

Philippe Herbet
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Zine Collection N°22 « A French Youth » by Hervé Lequeux, a limited and numbered edition of 200 with a C print signed by the artist
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I’ll be at Polycopies Boat during Paris Photo (6 minutes by walk from the Grand Palais) you will see: Philippe Herbet Ed Templeton Eylül Aslan Uwe Bedenbecker Eric Rondepierre Hervé Lequeux Kristin Trüb and more

“A French youth” Is a photo and text documentary which highlights youth social conditions in the French suburbs. I have chosen to display some unknown faces and give them a platform to put their daily life, aspirations and constraints into perspective. I want to show a reality of France which will constitute an important piece of its history. Here, takes place a part of its future. There are 15 to 25 year olds who were born in France, but their ethnic origins are, for most of them, from north and sub-Saharan Africa. These, mostly young French muslims toil for many to abandon the initial social situation of their parents and to reach an upper status in French society. The issues are known and problems regularly expressed. 15-25 years old clash to the same difficulties whatever the suburb. They face many problems: premature removal from school, academic failure, decomposed families, violence and involvement in the illegal drug trade, unemployment and geographical fracture. What solutions are offered to them? I want to analyse the daily life of several young people from different suburbs, and look for the common issues that are restraining. My documentary is built by drawing an imaginary line from the northern suburbs of Amiens, in northern France, to the northern quarters of Marseille in south of France. First I started in the Parisian suburb, mainly Seine-Saint -Denis, in Villetaneuse and Épinay-sur-Seine quarters, but also in Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine department) and Les Mureaux (Yvelines department). I documented the work of associations who train young, disadvantaged people for employment in a professional activity and profiling the dailylife of Moussa, 19, Yanis and Mehdi, 17 or Saber, 23 with the intention of showing the nature of the links they build with their district, their dreams and constraints they have to overcome during their early age. I reveal all the talents and the cleverness which exist in these districts, so called ‘banlieue’.
Then I went to Marseille North district. The city has been the subject of media spotlight due to a series of murders linked to drug cartels and weapons traffic in the city. The underreporting of such violence in the North district is impossible. But I chose to describe the daily life of this youth, the routine violence and segregation. The Guirri crew is for instance a group of young friends, grown together, early drop out from school. They attempt to find some solutions which come close to meeting what might be illegal. In Lyon suburb I highlighted the quotidian of youth involved in militant actions, like Rania, 18 who think the association as one of the pillars of a civic participation. Even if yet so few there are who really believe in the important of a kind of civic engagement. As France is not only made up of large cities, I decided to show those young people from working-class areas in a different environment and I made the choice of Saint Étienne, in the heart of the country. Here, I’ve met Wafa, 24, young lady who wear her headscarves for three years. I decided to follow her through the life of her Muslim community where she tries with some girlfriends to defend the voice of women inside the community. Sébastien

« A French youth » is a story that takes the opposite view to stereotypes and prejudices regarding French working-class areas and people who are suffering. It’s a story about a certain misunderstanding of French history : most of French citizens have foreign roots and their personal stories are marked by migration. But they are suffering from a poor public image. And the January 15th terrorist attacks in Paris have contributed to their stigmatization.
Nowadays, the French youth living in the working-class areas is for a large part Muslim and from the African continent. They build the multicultural French society. These young people are an evidence of present times. They are an indication for the future. The documentary “ A French youth” doesn’t want to give a naïve and optimistic picture of reality. Its main aim is to deal with reality, shed light on these unknown faces and share the everyday life of youth from French poor areas. Following an imaginary line running from the Northern districts of Amiens to the Northern neighbourhoods of Marseille, through suburbs in Paris and Lyon, “A French youth” picks up, step by step, through encounters, the issues young people have to face.
Following several personal itineraries, for a few weeks, we live with them side by side in their environment, and share their joy and their sorrow. “A French Youth” documents a History of the present time.
The northern districts of Amiens are characterized by the presence of white people and a melting pot. Emmanuel is 23 years old. He has just got out of jail after serving a 5 year sentence.
Now he returns to his family flat, in the “Pigeonnier” area. He’s back with his mother and sister. Emmanuel picks up the old habits of his neighborhood’s building n°9, places where he is also used to killing time with his childhood fellows. This is the story of a young man, who first was rejected by the educational system, who was then unable to find a job, but still struggles to find his way. However, a few months later, Emmanuel disappears. No one knows where he is. A new Court decision has decided he would shortly be forced to return to prison. He couldn’t cope with the idea and run away.
The Paris suburbs are separated from the national capital by a super-ring road round the city. It is an impassable frontier for young people from suburbs. Ali is 15. He was brought up in a single parent and modest home and left school early. Now, he aimlessly wanders in his neighborhood of Villetaneuse (Seine-Saint-Denis department). This is the only place where he feels safe. He is afraid to get in trouble with young people from neighboring areas and doesn’t feel comfortable anywhere else. It is a physical and a mental barrier that afflicts a number of young people from the suburbs. Mehdi, 19, lives in Épinay (Seine-Saint-Denis). He too dropped out of school at 16 without a diploma. He too wanders in his district. Under pressure from his mother, Mehdi has decided to take training conducted by a local association. This organization offers him refresher courses, helps him define his own targets and build his professional project.
This gloomy scene must not overshadow opportunities. Saber, 23, lives in Les Mureaux, a distant suburb, south of Paris. He also had training but he symbolizes creativity, excellence and use of initiative within this youth. Indeed, he is a new entrepreneur, and set up a street trading food company. Furthermore, Saber’s aim is to leave his neighbourhood and the life that goes with it.
Indeed, many young people from suburbs constantly feel the need to leave it. “Les Halles” is a shopping centre in the heart of Paris connected by public transport to the suburbs. Every week-ends, large groups of young boys, girls, lovers come in from their neighborhood in search of new horizons and tranquillity.
The Lyon suburbs have been the scenes of riots since the 80’s. No one expects anything any more from the political system. The youth from these suburbs have given up expecting anything from left-wing parties, unlike the previous generation who had hopes to achieve a better life. The present generation feel that they have to take care of their future themselves, including by using unlawful ways. The divorce is pronounced with the Republic and the system in place which they face.
Béné, 15, lives in Vaulx-en-Velin, south neighborhood. Even if he is strongly attached to his regional identity, he turns his back to the values and questions the legitimacy of the Republic. The void tends to be filled by religions: Islam and evangelical Christianity. Wafa, 23, lives in Saint-Étienne, a few kilometers away. She has a deep faith. She has worn her hijad for 3 years and she turned her attention to her Muslim community. This is also in her view an appropriate answer to the way women are considered in her district, a response to the phoney promises from society and its market goals.
The Northern part of Marseille has been the subject of media spotlight due to a series of murders linked to drugs cartels. But there’s more to this youth’s everyday life than what these highlights show.
It’s true that many of them experience a routine violence from an early age.
Young inhabitants from Pyat quarter called “Guirri” formed a gangsta rap band. The lyrics of their songs describe young dealers’s everyday life. They are aged between 17 and 22. They run their own drug deals and they are familiar with street fights, but at the same time they try to build a future for their rap group. They are even models for children, like Béné from Lyon who follows them on Facebook. A lot of young people are more or less involved with unlawful activities. Sometimes, they are involved in smuggling narcotics for a few euro but the rest of the time, they attend school or try to find employment with difficulty.