Haribo village


2017|Photography, illustration

Photography: Chia HUANG

Illustration: The children that live in the slum near the factory Haribo in Arnavaux, Marseille


This collaborative work, which combines documentary photography and amateur portraiture, is the result of a six-month collaboration with Gypsy children over the first half of 2017. Having come from Romania, their community continuously migrates throughout Europe to survive. These days, they live on the outskirts of the industrial sector in northern Marseille, in a slum erected beside the Haribo Candy Factory. Society sees them as pests. Having neither the option to attend school, nor the chance to interact with local inhabitants, it is very difficult for them to communicate effectively. I spent 6 months playing a collaborative game with these children. I invited them to use colored brushes to narrate their life stories. As a photographer, I used this process to try to find equilibrium in my relationship with the photographed. I adopt the diptych form to accent the plurality and miraculousness of human relationships and reconsider the meaning of truth : Is this world really the way that we see it? What does it mean to understand a person? And I continue to ask: what is the essence of creation? Is it reserved for those who have received special training? I selected children as my collaborators because I realized that by comparison, this group of youngsters did not allow the hardships they faced to cast a shadow on their lives. On the contrary, they embodied an enormous sense of joy and playful optimism. They would continuously turn the world around them into their own dreamland. The harsh nature of reality, juxtaposed with their intimate inner existence, results in a stark contrast. Observing this contrast was the driving force behind this work, and this contrast is also a resource that continues to provide me with answers to my own questions. 


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Village Haribo


2017|Photographie, illustration

Photographie: Chia HUANG

Illustration: Les enfants qui vivent dans le bidonville à côté de l'usine Haribo aux Arnavaux, Marseille 


Dans ce projet documentaire, j’ai collaboré avec des enfants tziganes qui vivent dans le bidonville aux Arnavaux, une zone industrielle qui se situe au nord de la Méditerranée entre la grande ville Marseille et une nature sauvage à la marge de la région dans laquelle cohabite une multiplicité de la population. Ce travail collectif est composé de deux lignes narratives : les photos du quotidien dans le bidonville, et les dessins faits par les enfants. En invitant les enfants à dessiner, moyennant une démarche ludique, j’essayais de les faire parler de leur propre histoire. De cette façon, je cherchais à établir un rapport juste et équilibré entre les personnes que je photographiais et moi en tant que photographe. Par ailleurs, à travers l’utilisation du diptyque des images, je voudrais remettre en question notre identification au réel. Je me demande : qu’est-ce que connaître une personne? Ce monde, est-il vraiment tel qu’on le conçoit? Qu’est-ce que l’essence de la création de l’art? L’art appartient-il seulement aux gens qui ont de la culture ou une formation particulière? J'ai choisi de me concentrer sur les enfants tziganes, car après avoir passé du temps avec eux, j'ai découvert que par rapport à la plupart des enfants, leurs conditions de vie ne font pas d’eux des enfants tristes; bien au contraire, ils sont d’un naturel si joyeux et si optimiste qu’il y a un contraste frappant entre la rude réalité du monde extérieur et leur propre monde intime. En effet, c’est justement la découverte de ce contraste qui m’a orienté tout au long de la recherche de mon projet, et qui, à mes yeux apportera une réponse aux questions que je me posais initialement.


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沒有紙的畫 


2017|攝影、繪畫

攝影:黃迦

繪畫:馬賽 阿納佛Haribo工廠旁平民窟中孩童


2017年上半年我與吉普賽孩童,以攝影與素人繪畫雙重視角的創作手法,共同完成了這件作品。來自羅馬尼亞的他們,為了生存在歐洲四處遷徙,如今住在法國馬賽北部工業城邊緣,Haribo糖果工廠旁佔地築起的貧民窟中。普遍被社會視為害蟲的吉普賽人,沒有機會上學,無法與當地人交談,更不可能好好表達自己。因此在這件作品中,我花了半年的時間與孩子們進行遊戲式的合作。邀請他們用彩色筆述說生命的故事。作為攝影師,藉此形式,我尋找著與被攝影者間平等的關係。透過雙聯畫所展現出的,人與人之間多元而奇異的觀點,我重新探索著何謂真實:這個世界,真如肉眼所見嗎?究竟認識一個人是什麼意思?此外我也追問,藝術創作的本質是什麼?它只屬於那些受過藝術訓練的人嗎?起初,我之所以選擇與孩童合作,是因為與村民們相處一陣後,我發現這群孩子並沒有因為現實的艱困而憂愁度日。相反地,他們保有一種巨大的喜悅和野性,不斷地編織著屬於自己夢境般的世界。在這艱困的現實與他們私密的內在之間,存在著一份巨大的對比。而事實上,對於這對比的凝視與觀察,正是這件作品的核心探索。此外這份對比,似乎也不斷地為我的問題帶來新的解答。



Can barely communicate with language, children in the village draw, and I took photography, it's the way to exchange the world, 2017

European map. A path from Romania to Marseille drawn by the villagers, 2017

A life that is born to be always moving, 2017

Lemon as the dessert, 2017

Abandoned suitcase in their village, 2017

“Could you show me your house?”, 2017

Before the eve of the new year of 2017, children are getting ready, 2016

Flea market in the north of Marseille, the main market for the villagers, 2017

Beggar map. I asked, "Where do you normally go for begging?" He drew the map with free lines and teared the map apart and threw it on the ground. I collected them and put the pieces of paper together again, 2017

The slum located at the exit of the highway A7, 2017

Outdoor shaving before attending a family marriage, 2017

Self portrait of Sapi, 2017

Portrait in front of their house, 2017

Invisible life in between, 2017

Get ready for the new year celebration, 2017

"How do you feel about the sun?", 2017 

The name, the flea market and the way home to Romania, 2017

Laying on an abandoned bed, in front of the cars heading toward the highway A7, 2017

Clothesline outside of the wooden house, 2017

Baby's daily drink is the artificial orange juice powder plus water, 2017

In the salon of the temporary wooden house, with children we draw all together, 2017

Sculpture of the wind, 2017

Contemplation, 2017

Party of the little girls, 2017

Children draw me, 2017

Family portrait of a 40 years old mom who takes care alone of seven children, 2017

Life, 2017

Fortune teller, 2017

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