Photography workshops | 2015 | Dourges (62)

In the framework of the European project “Black Faces of Europe”, Histoire de Savoir(s) set up participatory workshops aimed at the inhabitants of mining areas. The idea of proposing such workshops is based on the “Black Faces” actors’ conviction to use photography and/or video as pretext, in order to question and accompany inhabitants in the re-discovery of their history, their territory and common heritage. Through a field work adapted to the public, the hosts will create conditions enabling exchanges, and will accompany every participant to question the historical, cultural and natural heritage of their ton through video and/or photography. These workshops have a common goal, that is to say, enabling the inhabitants to take ownership of their close environment, by the means of interactive tools of expression.

It is in this context that we set up, with the History-Geography teacher from the Anne Franck secondary school in Dourges, a two-day photography workshop, aimed at two classes of quatrième. After benefitting from a short training to photography, the classes were split up into two groups, that went to discover their close environment (cite Bruno, cite Noyelle Godault, the 9-9bis and the multimodal hub).

The photo intervention was held by two of the photographers involved in the “Black Faces” project, Nicolas Leblanc and Boris Rogez. It is directly linked to works led in school on the local industrial heritage, especially thanks to a research on their diggers grand-parents.

For more information on the “European Black Faces” project, and the participatory projects, go on the website dedicated to Black Faces: www.gueulesnoires.com

Photo credits: Nicolas Leblanc