Mention honorable dans la catégorie « Photographie de Rue »

This long-term series is a very personal project for me as a photographer: At the end of the 1980s, I came for the first time to Paris and documented everyday life and the social situation in the suburbs, the so-called 'banlieues'. At that time, a real culture clash raged in Paris in the social hotspots of the northern suburbs of Paris, which continues to this day. It is about integration and self-determination of the Arab and Maghreb population, especially the wearing of headscarves in public institutions and buildings.

In this series the focus is primarily on children and young people in the social ghettos around Barbès Rochechouart. Many of the teens are descendants of immigrants (in 2^nd generation) and most of them are at home in Barbès, as the Parisians call it in short.

Especially young people of color who seem to live in the 'backyards of society' appear in street scenes and street portraits. They represent the multi-ethnic character of the quarter – 'the forgotten Paris' of immigrants from the Maghreb states and their economic and ethnic exclusion. In some suburbs the local population is in the minority compared to the immigrants from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

A lack of perspective among the youths prevents fast integration and create social unrest. Often, the boys identify with the Palestinians because the also feel excluded and without rights. Since some fundamentalists pursue an Islamic social order, the French government is trying to integrate them into the secular system in order to limit their influence.

Since the topic of technology hasn’t yet been raised: I took most of the photos with a Nikon F2 SLR camera and a Minolta CLE viewfinder camera, equipped with Kodak T-Max films and standard lenses.