Sanctuaries is a documentary work with several chapters based on stories of reconstruction. This “residence on earth”, to use the title of a collection by Pablo Neruda, is sometimes strange, often difficult, and it's when things get complicated that human beings show a rage for life that comes from within, and which sometimes resembles a miracle. What I want to talk about here is the aftermath of the storm, the moment when you have to gather your strength to avoid going under. How do you rebuild? For this selection, here are two stories: Heidie escaped a destructive relationship thanks to Gaëtan. She wanted to regain custody of her daughter and rebuild a stable daily life. She lives with her bipolar disorder and addictions.
Bastien, after years of bullying at school, has built a glamorous, fairytale world in his caravan on the family
farm. Each of these stories is first and foremost the fruit of an encounter. I meet people by hitchhiking in France, and wandering around towns. I ask people if they'd be willing to tell me their stories.
Sometimes a miracle happens: people agree to open their doors and their hearts to me. So it becomes a
long-term job, punctuated by regular visits to people's homes over several months. What unites all the individual stories in Sanctuaries is the energy that pushes all the protagonists out of their violent histories towards light and healing. This work is an ode to hope. The starting point is my admiration for the life force of these human beings. They are stubbornly seeking a little peace. They seek to free themselves. These battles take place silently in the depths of the day. Very often, the refuge is others, love, bonds. Sometimes romantic, sometimes familial. Sometimes, in Bastien's case, it's a revival of self-esteem. This work is a collaboration with the people photographed. They are as much a part of it as I am. Together, we search for those infinitely fragile moments of grace. For a moment, everything responds and unites.