11 novembre : ces Français qui reconstituent la guerre de 14-18
Grâce à un appareil photo datant de la période de la Grande Guerre, Nostalgie de la boue explore la reconstitution de la mémoire collective française, un siècle après la fin de la Grande Guerre. Un passé idéalisé par certains, devenant parfois plus rassurant que le présent.
Pendant un an et demi, j’ai sillonné la France et ai photographié une quinzaine de reconstitutions de batailles 14-18. Les photos ont été prises avec un Kodak Vest Pocket, surnommé le « Kodak des soldats », l’un des appareils les plus utilisés par les combattants pendant la guerre. Malgré l’apparence ancienne des clichés, il s’en dégage une sensibilité contemporaine.
Les images de Nostalgie de la boue, tout comme les reconstitutions historiques qu’elles représentent, s’inscrivent dans le présent. Elles fonctionnent comme un miroir de nos interrogations et de nos doutes actuels. On y apprend finalement davantage du présent que du passé.
Face à l’incertitude de l´avenir, le passé est un ressourcement, où les enjeux sont clairs. Investir la peau d’un héros du passé peut nous permettre de trouver du sens à notre vie quotidienne.
La mémoire collective est un perpétuel exercice de réécriture. Qui sait ce que l’on reconstituera dans un siècle?
Jeremy and Aude, a young couple and reenactors, go to fetch food with a WWI cart in the streets of Saint Mihiel, a French village retaken from the Germans in September 1918 by American forces, near Verdun. Photo taken a hundred years after, in September 2018, with a century old Kodak Vest Pocket.
Two nurses, a grandmother and her grandchild, walk around the battlefield looking for reenactors pretending to be wounded in Noyon, France, April 2018. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, also known as “The Soldier’s Kodak”, a camera largely used by combatants during WWI. The Vest Pocket produced a great deal of the amateur archival images of the conflict we have today. The image is part of the series “Nostalgie de la boue” (Nostalgia for Mud), a work in progress about memory a century after the end of the Great War.
French WWI reenactors standing as German soldiers, attacking French positions in a real battleground near Noyon, France, one hundred years after the end of the Great War, April 2018. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, also known as “The Soldier’s Kodak”, a camera largely used by combatants during WWI. The Vest Pocket produced a great deal of the amateur archival images of the conflict we have today. The image is part of the series “Nostalgie de la boue” (Nostalgia for Mud), a work in progress about memory a century after the end of the Great War.
French WWI reenactors attempt to contain a German attack of the hill Mt Renaud, Noyon, France, the same hill defended by real soldiers one hundred years before, April 2018. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, a camera used during WWI. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, also known as “The Soldier’s Kodak”, a camera largely used by combatants during WWI. The Vest Pocket produced a great deal of the amateur archival images of the conflict we have today. The image is part of the series “Nostalgie de la boue” (Nostalgia for Mud), a work in progress about memory a century after the end of the Great War.
French WWI reenactors attempt to contain a German attack of the hill Mt Renaud, Noyon, France, the same hill defended by real soldiers one hundred years before, April 2018. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, a camera used during WWI. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, also known as “The Soldier’s Kodak”, a camera largely used by combatants during WWI. The Vest Pocket produced a great deal of the amateur archival images of the conflict we have today. The image is part of the series “Nostalgie de la boue” (Nostalgia for Mud), a work in progress about memory a century after the end of the Great War.
French reenactors standing as German WWI soldiers wait for a combat reenactment rehearsal in Noyon, France, May 2018. They will loose the battle just like their real counterparts 100 years ago. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, a camera used during WWI. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, also known as “The Soldier’s Kodak”, a camera largely used by combatants during WWI. The Vest Pocket produced a great deal of the amateur archival images of the conflict we have today. The image is part of the series “Nostalgie de la boue” (Nostalgia for Mud), a work in progress about memory a century after the end of the Great War.
Two reenactors rest after a battle at the Mont Renaud’s Chapel in Noyon, France, destroyed during the real battle in WWI, a hundred years before April 2018. Photo taken with the Kodak Vest Pocket, also known as “The Soldier’s Kodak”, a camera largely used by combatants during WWI. The Vest Pocket produced a great deal of the amateur archival images of the conflict we have today. The image is part of the series “Nostalgie de la boue” (Nostalgia for Mud), a work in progress about memory a century after the end of the Great War.
