“The exhibition is a hit! »

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250 photos in Black and White, produced between 1974 and 1996 par five photographersRobert Gernot, Jean Mourot, Michel Thersiquel, Didier Olivré and Dominique Leroux, in different districts of the city of Ponant.

Human Brest is there new exhibition presented since Thursday December 12, 2024 and until Thursday February 20, 2025 at the Maison de la Photographie, in downtown Brest. Financed by the Community, within the framework of 50 years of the Cubthe urban community of Brest created in 1973, which became Brest metropolis oceane in 2005 and Brest metropolis in 2015.

A testimonial and heritage exhibition dedicated to First 20 years of Brest intercommunalityas summarized by Dominique Leroux, artistic director of the Rade Movie association, chaired by Lénaïg L'Aot-Lombart, who launched and manages the equipment.

Which states straight away: “We would have liked to present reports from each of the eight communes of the Cub, but despite numerous searches, we did not find any in relation to our theme, the social and the human, in the archives. »

Streets, faces, an atmosphere

The photos on display, from city ​​ordersmake us (re) dive into an era, an atmospherea daily newspaper. Lively streets, construction sites, signs, almost forgotten car models, faces, faces, smiles…

We see first the photographs of Robert Gernoton the last Polygon barracks. “One of my most beautiful reports,” assures the artist who, on this Sunday afternoon in 1974, went to meet the inhabitants and produced images full of tenderness.

Pour Brest for tomorrowa new order from the mayor at the time, Pierre Maille, in 1982, Jean Mourot (disappeared in 2022) had also gone in front of the inhabitants of Saint-Martin, Saint-Michel, Recovery, Kerinou, Bellevue…, his Leica slung over his shoulder. “In building corridors, schoolyards, cafes, shared gardens, streets or businesses. Here, traces of the past rub shoulders with modernity. »

And Dominique Leroux specifies: “René Tanguy had kept all the archives. More than 1,000 photos were scanned, we kept the 70 from Jean Mourot's original selection. »

The time is coming large construction sites. In 1994, Michel Thersiquel (died in 2007) follows the transformation of the sector HLM of Pen-ar-Créac'h. On the Place de Strasbourg side, the Joël-Lemoigne or René-Jamault squares. The photographer takes us into the daily lives of residents and shopkeepers, showing us the workers in action. “We reproduced his album, with photos from the time and the texts that accompanied them. »

Just like Didier Olivré, freshly returned to his hometown who, still in 1994, works on theLambézellec town hall blockcurrently being renovated. And meets the actors who make the place come to life (town hall, post office, police station, library) and its surroundings, from workers to local residents, including municipal agents and police officers. To take magnificent portraits, all in light, signature of the artist.

The trip ended in 1996 in the working-class district of Kerangoff what Dominique Leroux highlighted during work carried out with ethnologist Karine Téphany. Especially during the party Oh!! Pardon de Kerango. “I knew the neighborhood, I was won over by the solidarity and the village spirit that reigned there. »

The photographer had set up a pop-up studio at the social center over a weekend. “People came there spontaneously,” remembers the Brest resident who brought out his magnificent photos of the neighborhood’s figures for the occasion.

“We have never seen so many people”

These 250 photos, supplemented by works of the time to be consulted on site, show the evolution of Brest through its inhabitants. Some people will perhaps be able to identify with it. Or identify relatives, friends, colleagues… “A large notebook regroups all the photos that he is possible to caption by adding the names of people who appear in the photos, by giving details of the location… We do not, of course, have all this information and the people of Brest can help to enrich our knowledge. »

Many people from Brest come to the house of photography. “The exhibition is a hit, we have never seen so many people. It's nice because people interact in front of the photos. Some have never been before and are discovering the place. »

Human Brestuntil February 20, 2025 from Monday to Saturday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., 1 rue Henri-Moreau (near rue Jean-Jaurès) in Brest. Facebook page: Brest House of Photography. Such. 09 87 33 31 99. It’s free.

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