sound

Sound opens a space where words, silences and atmospheres become material for stories. A voice carries a story, but also a rhythm, an emotion and a way of inhabiting language. A soundscape reveals presences, activities, distances and changes that images alone cannot always show.

Participants learn to use a recorder, set levels, hold a microphone, choose a distance and listen through headphones. These simple gestures build a special kind of attention: recording means slowing down, making room for the person you meet and noticing the sounds that make up a place.

Interviews are prepared together. The group formulates a starting question, writes questionnaires and learns the difference between an open question, a follow-up and a comment. We work on listening, respecting silences, consent and each person’s right to withdraw or rephrase what they said before it is shared.

Street interviews bring in a wide range of points of view; the audio portrait gives more time to one person’s journey; collecting ambient sound builds a sensory memory of the neighborhood. These formats can be combined with photographs, maps, texts or video, but they can also stand alone as sound works.

After recording, the group listens, describes and selects. This step shows that editing creates meaning: shortening, juxtaposing or moving a sentence changes what was said. The choice of excerpts is therefore discussed carefully and, when needed, approved with the people who were recorded.

The recordings can be played at a group listening session, included in a film, offered in an exhibition on headphones or via QR code, or kept in an archive. How they are shared takes into account listening conditions, accessibility and the level of protection wanted for each testimony.