Latent in Saint Cloud, France
I usually never shoot the place I live in. I usually shoot the places I lived in, years after: this photo from my series “Instants of Latencies” is to date the only exception. It took me 4 years to notice there was actually a photo I could make here, and yet this place is no more than 100m away from my home… In my work I am very interested in the urbanisation aspects and the humanization problems: and Saint Cloud has this one particular place where the motorway bridge runs straight into the city. I had been walking underneath this motorway every single day and never realized this was what the city meant to me. Like most of the cities surrounding Paris, all the agitation and turmoil is concentrated in the capital itself, turning them into just sleeping places for a large number of persons. To me it seems as if the time is being held back, latent. I wanted to capture an image that showed both the urban context of the city and its mood – in a very subjective way.
Place you live: I live in Saint Cloud, city close to Paris, France
Occupation: photographer
Preoccupation: plenty!
What is a perfect day in Saint Cloud? I like the city in late spring after the rain. Or in a dry hot and dusty summer evening.
If someone was visiting for the first time for one day only, what must they do? Roam along the river underneath the motorway, from the park to the aqueduct. But this will not be typical tourist sightseeing at all … or maybe you might also skip this and visit Paris instead!
A little known fact about where you live? People living in Saint Cloud are named “Clodoaldiens,” which looks and sounds very odd.