For some time now, I have returned to my native region after having left it for nearly 40 years: the Côte d’Opale. I was struck by the fact that certain places had remained identical, as if frozen in time. I started photographing these places at nightfall to immortalize these places that I find almost iconic. My photos therefore correspond to a rather melancholy wandering because it is linked to my childhood.
Progress transforms everything (the old yellow streetlights are replaced by LED lamps, the old stalls where french fries are sold disappear because they do not meet hygiene requirements, the old chalets facing the sea are standardized: they must all be the same size and the same color)… It’s a whole world that disappears: the photos in my series testify to this old world.
Why shoot at night?
Because the old neon lights, the lit windows of the small fisherman’s houses, etc., through their lighting, further reveal the beauty of the place. These nocturnal scenes express a feeling of estrangement, nostalgia and deep silence.
