Algeria(s), a mosaic of heirs seeks to draw a portrait of the composite community linked to Algeria on French territory and its archipelago of memories, after 130 of colonialism, 8 years of war (1954-1962), 1 milion people back to France in 1962 and decades of algerian migrations in France
Based on encounters across France, it aims to ask questions, highlight contradictions, what brings people together more than we imagine, what also divides. A reportage at ground level, in counterpoint to national narratives, inspired by my own family history and my interest in transnational relationships, histories and identities.
More than a reportage, it is an essay. A first stone of a necessarily long and slow work, which will have to continue. A path nourished by my own questioning and the desire to discover, listen to and understand those of other "heirs", however different they may be. Here, no linear or descriptive narration, but six portraits around which gravitate a series of sequences that function as microcosms of ideas, questions and emotions that sometimes answer each other smoothly, sometimes clash. To make visible to the eye and the mind the chaos of deep emotions that Algeria arouses today, from France.
Here we speak of identity (s), transculturalism, migrations, exiles, belonging, racism, in a transversal way. It is from these visual encounters that possible dialogues are born, together, but also questions that would disturb us in the depths of ourselves, whatever our link or not with Algeria
The portraits of Norah, Mohamed, Samira, Marte-Hélène and Salvador, Momo, and Emilie are part of the final version of this project but many other people have contributed and inspired, through their time, their history, their ideas and conversations to the genesis of all the images of this project which explores without limit the idea of Algeria and its manifestations, collective or individual in French society.
With the support of the BnF - National French LIbrary with the photographic comission " Radioscopie de la France" and LFI - Leica Fotografie International
Everything starts here. In her mind and in what she let escape, little by little. It’s been 15 years that I’ve been hearing my mother talking about Algeria: “In Algeria this, in Algeria that...”.
Sequence 01 _The Silence
The Algeria Ferries behind the bars of the port of Marseille before its departure for Algeria. Marseille, France. April 29, 2022. With 700,000 Algerian citizens on French soil, Franco-Algerians, their descendants, pieds-noirs and their children, families divided on both sides of the Mediterranean, the human movement between the two countries is as intense as it is complicated. Few flights, a crowded and often expensive ferry service, while low-costs to neighboring countries abound. A metaphor for the complex historical relationships that still complicate many people's lives today.
A curtain for sale, in the sun, in the alleys of the flea market of Marseille, France. May 15, 2022. The Flea Market is full of objects related to the culture of the Maghreb but also culinary stands, which give to these alleys a particular atmosphere. Marseille France
View of the grotto of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Santa Cruz. Nimes, France. May 25, 2022. The sanctuary of Our Lady of Santa Cruz is located in the district of Mas de Mingue, in Nimes. It was built between 1968 and 1969 and since 1965, on Ascension Day, it has been the site of a pilgrimage by Blackfoot from the region of Oran in Algeria, where the original shrine was built in the 19th century in response to the plague that ravaged the region. After 1962, one of the virgins of the shrine was repatriated and gave birth to the one in Nimes. It is a point of anchorage and reunion for many pieds-noirs who lived in Oran, Algeria.
A stand composed of school photos and traditional food and drink of the pieds-noirs of the Oran region, Algeria. Through this type of stand, the pieds-noirs former inhabitants of Oran hope to find people who shared their childhood and their neighborhood in Algeria. Nimes, France. May 26, 2022 The sanctuary of Notre-Dame-de-Santa-Cruz is located in the Mas de Mingue district of Nimes. It was built between 1968 and 1969 and since 1965, on Ascension Day, it has been the site of a pilgrimage by Blackfoot from the region of Oran in Algeria, where the original shrine was built in the 19th century in response to the plague that ravaged the region. After 1962, one of the virgins of the shrine was repatriated and gave birth to the one in Nimes. It is a point of anchorage and reunion for many pieds-noirs who lived in Oran, Algeria.
Emilie Belafkih poses for a portrait in her living room, in Rognac, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. April 26, 2022. She is 39 years old, a company manager in transportation and furnished apartment rentals and lives today with her husband and children. Daughter of a “ Pied noir” (black foot, european living in Algeria during the colonial period), Algeria for her is a buried identity, a kind of hereditary suffering that we do not understand. Something that transpires within the family but without real transmission. In spite of this, she feels a deep attraction, from a very young age, for this country, a culture. Imagination or real attachment? She will experience it personally in 2018 during her first trip, accompanied by her father. Years of silence that suddenly found the words to express themselves, to feel. This trip is the apotheosis of a personal and intimate journey, on the fringe of the pied-noir entourage and of what sometimes she qualifies as an inherited racism, in the community she frequents. From the little girl of 8 years old in search of meaning, wearing a "Algeria is French" pin, she gradually became interested in the Arabic language thanks to the grocer of her neighborhood who acts as a teacher, and began reading the Coran, before converting to Islam in 2009.
Sequence 02_The city, the people
Late afternoon on a rock in the Vallon des Auffes. Marseille, France. May 15, 2022. Following the steps of Norah Bouhacene in "her" Marseille, we arrive on this rock, where she knows everyone. "The rock of the Algerians" she says laughing. Here, everyone has a link with Algeria, by one or both parents, by birth. Marseille France
Meriem Hammou, 36 and her family (father and brother) at the end of the family meal during the celebration of Eid el Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan. Issoudun, France - May 2, 2022. Meriem, born in Algeria, arrived in 2008 for her studies and then married Charef, a Frenchman of Algerian origin. Born in France, he often had to answer this question in his childhood, a question that his children are still asked today. "We are asked to integrate, but we are set apart". Aid el Fitr is a moment of religious celebration, but also cultural, experienced as a strong link to Algeria, much more than the holidays related to history.
Norah Bouhacene (46) in the sun on a rock of the Vallon des Auffes. Marseille, France. May 15, 2022.
Norah is an educator, but she also went through the army where she felt she was the "bougnoule" on duty. The youngest of 16 children, she was born in France to Algerian parents, and feels above all a Marseillaise. "Algeria, for me, is my mother", it is her common thread, the link with the country where Norah does not necessarily have very good memories. However, for the past 3 years, she has held dual nationality, to avoid visa problems, in particular to accompany her mother who wishes to rest in Algeria when the time comes."In France you can be Franco-anything, there is no problem, but as soon as it is Franco-Maghrebian, it is not possible. France and Algeria according to Norah, it's I love you, I love you not.
Sequence 02_ Imaginary
Pieces of watermelon at a family meal during the celebration of Eid el Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan in the family of Charef and Meriem Hammou in Issoudun, France - May 2, 2022. Charef is French of Algerian origin. Born in France, he often had to answer this question in his childhood, a question that his children are still asked today. "We are asked to integrate, but we are set apart". His wife Meriem arrived in 2008 as part of her studies. Aid el Fitr is a moment of religious celebration, but also cultural, experienced as a strong link to Algeria, much more than the holidays related to history. Issoudun France
Red babouchs in the living room of Charef and Meriem Hammou's family in Issoudun, France - May 2, 2022.
During the 43rd National Congress of the Algerianist Circle, some hands look for the name of a relative on the wall of the Memorial of the Disappeared, erected in 2007 in memory of the French people who disappeared in Algeria between 1954 and 1963. It is located at the Convent of Sainte Claire de la Passion in Perpigan, France. June 26, 2022. The Cercle Algérianiste, created in 1973, gathers a large majority of pieds-noirs, and has as its mission, among others and according to their terms, "to protest against the official history of the French presence in Algeria as presented by those who forced us into exile and to give a new vigor to the "Algerian-French" community, in order to renew our faith. In Perpignan they work in close collaboration with the "Centre National de Documentation des Français d'Algérie" and the new municipal team of Perpignan, led by the Mayor of Rassemblement National Louis Alliot.
A wax manequin, dressed as in the desert on a wine stand "of the repatriates", in the village of the reunion, during the 43rd National Congress of the Algerianist circle, in Perpigan, France. June 24, 2022. The Cercle Algérianiste, created in 1973, gathers a large majority of pieds-noirs, and has as its mission, among others and according to their terms, "to protest against the official history of the French presence in Algeria as presented by those who forced us into exile and to give a new vigor to the "Algerian-French" community, in order to renew our faith. In Perpignan they work in close collaboration with the "Centre National de Documentation des Français d'Algérie" and the new municipal team of Perpignan, led by the Mayor of Rassemblement National Louis Alliot.
Mohamed K., 44 years old in a street in the Noailles district of Marseille, France. He is a handyman, mechanic and computer technician, and works in an association in the city center. He is originally from the Oran region, he arrived in 2017 with a tourist visa, to take care of his mother, in France for 25 years, who had health problems. Having a good situation in Algeria, moving to France was never really an option.
Sequence 03_Hi/story
The tray of the Jewish Easter, family object of the rabbinic ancestors of Marthe-helene Choukroun. Montpellier, France. May 9, 2022. Atheist, it is to her that must return "the tray of the ancestors", rabins in Algeria, even if she has always sought an alternative to receive this gift heavy with tradition. It has finally traveled with her many lives to Paris, Ecuador, and then to Montpellier, where it is kindly forgotten. It is always there somewhere but we never really know where it is. It is when we talk about it, when we wonder where it is, when we look for it, then confuse it with another one brought back from Morocco, that it appears. Montpellier France
Marthe Helene Choukroun (right) and her son Salvador (left) on the balcony of the family home. Montpellier, France. May 9, 2022. Marthe-helene Choukroun was sent to France after the death of her mother (while her brothers remained in Algeria). Atheist, it is to her that must return "the tray of the ancestors", rabins in Algeria, even if she has always sought an alternative to receive this gift heavy with tradition. It has finally traveled with her many lives to Paris, Ecuador, and then to Montpellier, where it is kindly forgotten. It is always there somewhere but we never really know where it is. It is when we talk about it, when we wonder where it is, when we look for it, then confuse it with another one brought back from Morocco, that it appears.
Sequence 04_Troubles
Postcards with the epigraph of General Raoul Salan distributed at the stand of the Association of Friends of Raoul Salan. The General is one of the authors of the Putsch of the Generals in 1961 and leader of the OAS, Secret Army Organization. Perpignan, France. June 26, 2022. This stand is part of the 43rd National Congress of the Cercle Algérianiste, in Perpigan, France. The Cercle Algérianiste, created in 1973, gathers a large majority of pieds-noirs, and has as its mission, among others and according to their terms, "to protest against the official history of the French presence in Algeria as presented by those who forced us into exile and to give a new vigor to the "Algerian-French" community, in order to renew our faith. In Perpignan they work in close collaboration with the "Centre National de Documentation des Français d'Algérie" and the new municipal team of Perpignan, led by the Mayor of Rassemblement National Louis Alliot.
A child wearing an Algerian flag during an associative celebration of the 60th anniversary of Algeria's independence, in Lyon, France. July 5, 2022. The event was organized on the Louis Pradel square, by the Collectif des Algeriens de France whose president is Abdelaziz Boumediene
Samira Ferfache ( 51) on the terrace of the premises of Cocoon'âges, in a building of apartments of the new extension of the district "Les crottes", which she is in charge of. The idea is to support the appropriation of the space and to guarantee a certain link between the inhabitants. Marseille, France. May 16, 2022. Born in Bordeaux, her father, from the generation of what she calls "the good citizens" was a communist and union activist, a local supporter of the FLN. For her, Algerians have a real sense of community and a fighting spirit, due to the non-presence of the State in their daily lives, something that she believes they try to reproduce in France, when they arrive, alone in this new society. She imagines her community of belonging to be Mediterranean, but she constantly reflects on her Algerianity through her work, her encounters and her own life path, which evolves according to the audience. A fluid feeling of belonging and a real logic of interculturality that exudes between the two countries. "The wealth of France is diversity, the rest I do not want".
Seuqence 06_ The senses
French people born in Oran touch the Virgin of Santa Cruz before she goes on pilgrimage. The sanctuary of Our Lady of Santa Cruz is located in the district of Mas de Mingue, in Nimes. It was built between 1968 and 1969 and since 1965, on Ascension Day, it has been the site of a pilgrimage of Blackfoot people from the region of Oran in Algeria, where the original shrine was built in the 19th century in response to the plague that ravaged the region. After 1962, one of the virgins of the shrine was repatriated and gave birth to the one in Nimes. It constitutes a point of anchorage and reunion for many pieds-noirs having lived in Oran, Algeria. Nimes France
Mohamed Goumri ( 38), known as "Momo", wears a custom-made "Orange Hermes" Djellaba in a Marseilles cove on his day off. Marseille, France. May 18, 2022. Originally from Oran, he is a famous waiter in the bars and bistros of Marseille, who greets everyone in the street. At the beginning of his career, in a fancy place of the Phocaean city, his boss sees Mohammed's first name in a bad light and suggests that he be called "Zidane", because it sounds better for the customers. An ordinary racism. Homosexual, Mohammed is the only one in his family who does not yet have French nationality despite being 17 years old in France. Born in Libya during a trip by his parents, his birth certificate is not accessible and has delayed the process. But if he really had to choose, it would be Algeria without hesitation, of which he is proud, even if his life is free. Marseille France
Sequence 07_Welcome and exile
A man carries his family name and the name of his childhood town in Algeria in order to find old friends. Nimes, France. May 26, 2022. The sanctuary of Our Lady of Santa Cruz is located in the Mas de Mingue district of Nimes. It was built between 1968 and 1969 and since 1965, on Ascension Day, it has been the site of a pilgrimage of Blackfoot people from the region of Oran in Algeria, where the original shrine was built in the 19th century in response to the plague that ravaged the region. After 1962, one of the virgins of the shrine was repatriated and gave birth to the one in Nimes. It is a point of anchorage and reunion for many pieds-noirs who lived in Oran, Algeria.
A lighter in the image of Marseille, France. May 18, 2022. Marseille France
Two signs mentioning the Place Hoche neighborhood and the La Moricière School in Oran, Algeria on a tree in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Santa Cruz. Through this type of stand, the pieds-noirs former inhabitants of Oran hope to find people who shared their childhood and their neighborhood in Algeria. Nimes, France. May 26, 2022.the sanctuary of Our Lady of Santa Cruz is located in the district of Mas de Mingue, in Nimes. It was built between 1968 and 1969 and since 1965, on Ascension Day, it has been the site of a pilgrimage of Blackfoot people from the region of Oran in Algeria, where the original shrine was built in the 19th century in response to the plague that ravaged the region. After 1962, one of the virgins of the shrine was repatriated and gave birth to the one in Nimes. It is a point of anchorage and reunion for many pieds-noirs who lived in Oran, Algeria.
Epilogo
Algerian flag during am algerian protest in Paris, France