2023argenteuilCité Champagne, centre-villefrance
la cité des bulles 2
With the artist Julie Rochereau, children and young people from the Cité Champagne and central Argenteuil go back to the origins of photography: handmade pinhole cameras, a darkroom, cyanotypes in the sun.
- formats
- mediums
- place
- argenteuil · Cité Champagne, centre-ville
- partners
- Le Colporteur
Le Valdocco
Centre aéré Georges Lapierre
Musée Sauvage - artists
- Julie Rochereau
- public presentation
- The exhibition “extension sauvage,” under the arcades of the Cité Champagne, then at the Musée Sauvage.
A popular artist residency brings together an artist, a territory and the people who live there. In 2023, a year after “La Cité des bulles,” mOst invited the photographer Julie Rochereau to the Cité Champagne, between the concrete of the estate and the Butte des Châtaigniers, then to the town center. Four groups took part: the girls supported by the Valdocco, the children of the Colporteur and of the Georges Lapierre day center and, at the Musée Sauvage, a group from the town center.
The children built their pinhole cameras from tin cans and salvaged objects: “At the start, we took boxes, we painted them black, and the outside the way we wanted. We made a hole in the box. We went outside with the boxes.” They developed their pictures in a darkroom set up for the occasion, spread the cyanotype chemistry on paper and let the sun do the rest, visited the town archives, then chose, cropped and titled their images.
“We wanted to show everyday life, nature in the city, the trees,” writes the town-center group. The exhibition “extension sauvage · la cité des bulles 2” opened on September 30, 2023 at the Colporteur, under the arcades of the Cité Champagne, then on October 21 at the Musée Sauvage.
the town center
nature in the city
At the Musée Sauvage, the group photographed their town center digitally, made negatives from the pictures, then cyanotypes: Hana's trees, Aylal's fruit, Mohamed's station, Akram's broken bike.
“In the town center, there's a market called Héloïse, a park with lots of dogs, the neighborhood center where the youth workers are really nice.”
“There's the Musée Sauvage, the esplanade and the riverbanks, the town hall, the archives, the cinema, the Figuier blanc, the schools, the station and the Seine.”
“We like the neighborhood center, the Musée Sauvage, the cinema. We don't like the noise, the run-down buildings.”
excerpts from the text written together at the Musée Sauvage
pinhole photographs, cyanotypes and titles: the participants in the workshops at the Colporteur, the Valdocco and the Musée Sauvage, with Julie Rochereau
the exhibition
extension sauvage, wall by wall
The large cyanotypes from the Colporteur, the pinhole photographs and their negatives, the pictures from the Valdocco, then the cyanotypes from the Musée Sauvage, each with the title chosen by the person who made it.
wall 01the large prints
wall 02the pinhole photographs
wall 03at the valdocco
Bouly dans le bloc
Pinhole photograph.
le refuge de la pluie
Pinhole photograph.
Pinhole photograph.
l’équipe
Pinhole photograph and archive photograph.
les moutons de la nuit de la cité
Pinhole photographs and archive photograph.
sans titre
Collage on an archive photograph.
wall 04at the musée sauvage
en attente du bus
Cyanotype by Mohamed.
la gare et le TER
Cyanotype by Mohamed.
taxi
Cyanotype by Mohamed.
un arrosoir
Cyanotype by Manel.
le camping-car
Cyanotype by Hana.
wall 05at the musée sauvage
les arbres
Cyanotype by Hana.
paradis des fruits
“I see watermelons, lots of apples, peaches and flat peaches. If you turn the watermelons over, they turn into hearts. They're near Argenteuil station.” Cyanotype by Aylal.
tsunami de plantes
Cyanotype by Aylal.
la nudité de la vue
Cyanotype by Jade.
300 fonds en un
Cyanotype by Jade.
le vélo cassé
Cyanotype by Akram.
jurassic world
Cyanotype by Yanis.
wall 06at the musée sauvage
les colonnes
Cyanotype by a youth worker.
le départ
Cyanotype by a youth worker.
les grosses têtes
l’aventurier
le conducteur en attente
wall 07the prints
pinhole photographs, cyanotypes and titles: the participants in the workshops at the Colporteur, the Valdocco and the Musée Sauvage, with Julie Rochereau
public presentation · September 30, 2023
under the arcades of champagne
Under the arcades of the Cité Champagne, the large cyanotypes, the framed pinhole photographs and the sheets of negatives were hung along the walkways. On opening day, everyone came to show their own picture.
pinhole photographs, cyanotypes and titles: the participants in the workshops at the Colporteur, the Valdocco and the Musée Sauvage, with Julie Rochereau