2017 Nikon-NOOR Masterclass France

Between 20 to 23 March 2017, the Nikon-NOOR Workshop took place Paris. This workshop is part of the Nikon-NOOR Academy 2017, also organized in Amsterdam, Berlin & Manchester. Fourteen young photographers and photojournalists from France came together for an inspiring four days of learning and sharing with NOOR photographers Pep Bonet, Robin Hammond & Benedicte Kurzen and NOOR team represented by Clement Saccomani.

During the four intensive days, the group reviewed and shared their portfolios, listened to presentations by the photographers, held in-depth discussions on practical and creative issues, and edited their visual stories. Below you will find a showcase of the participants’ work.

Ever wondered what it’s like to participate in the Nikon-NOOR Academy? Watch video from workshop in Paris

The masterclass has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Nikon Europe.

Antonin Weber

Valras-plage is "only happiness". A small corner of paradise for vacationers in the south of France with 50 shades of fluo. Once the boiling of the past season, Fifi, Patoch and Le Capitaine find their Valras whose colors carquelle through the bottl

Everything is only hapiness

Valras-Plage is a place where everything is about happiness, a small corner of paradise for holidaymakers in the south of France La France . A pretty little cyté seaside with its fun fair, its multiparfum ice creams, its placards Ashy, the sea and its thousands of holiday makers.

Behind these 50 shades of uo, once the boom of the past season, Fi, Patoche and the captain Find their Valras. A Valras whose colors crack between the bottles of wiskhy and their Personal stories at once heavy and engaging. A tragicomic and offbeat story of characters ready to preserve their island of happiness against All and above all against themselves.

Antonin Weber

Freelance photographer working with the studio Hans Lucas, Antonin Weber works on documentary photography. Based between Paris and Istanbul he gets specialised on Turkey. He is following the social, politic and refugees issues in the country since 3 years. He works with the medias ELLE Magazine, Pélerin, La Croix, Der Speigle, Grazia, So Foot, ECHO, Les Jours, Parisien Mag and Marie Claire.

Camilo Leon-Quijano

The Rugbywomen of Sarcelles

In November 2016 I started following a group of rugbywomen from the Chantereine high school in Sarcelles, an impoverished suburb located in the north of Paris. Last year they were one of the best newcomer teams of the country. In 2015 their coach Florian, started a program called 20 Rugbywomen Sarcelloises in which he prepares the team to international competitions. During this project they will travel to the United Kingdom to participate in a high school tournament in London.

The main objective of this program is to use rugby as a way to limit the school dropout and to promote “citizenship values”. For these 20 young women, rugby is an empowering medium to overcome difficulties and gain confidence. It is also a tool to reverse stereotypes and change the image of young women living in French suburbs.

Camilo Leon-Quijano

Camilo is Phd Fellow in Sociology and lecturer at the Gender Studies department of the EHESS (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences). He is an independent photographer born in Bogotá (Colombia) and based in Paris.

He uses photography as a medium to understand urban spaces. He specializes in gender issues and social inequalities. Camilo explores the multiples ways photography may be an empowering instrument to overturn stereotypes: in that sense he conceives visual materials as a tool to question what constitutes “reality”. He has been working on documentary projects in France, Colombia and Madagascar.

Charlotte Gonzalez

Abandon

Parties are a privileged place, a space for exploration, a time for fusion. Skin, saliva, sweat,sometimes an overdose of it - it’s the moment when sexual tension is opposed to a feeling of loneliness, and both are symmetrical and equally strong. When different social classes, sexes, ages, gather to seek human connection and loopholes in their own consciousness and social behaviors. When they can abandon themselves in the middle of a crowd, loose their inhibitions - but in the end the experience is personal, and often self-serving. This is a selection of photographs taken over a two years period of time in french underground parties and after-parties in Paris and Marseille. Through this work, I aim to show the duality that comes out of those atmospheres and attitudes.

Charlotte Gonzalez

Charlotte Gonzalez was born in Paris in 1985. She graduated from the parisian art school l’Ecole nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in 2010 and has since done assignments for the Wall Street Journal, Libération, Néon and les Inrockuptibles. She also works as a photographer and videographer in cultural projects like art performances, contemporary dance, concerts and theatre. She has exhibited part of this work in february/march 2017 in T2, Paris.

A man studies the Koran in the Paris' Mosque.

Chloe Sharrock

On the morning of the Eid el Kebir, one of the most important celebration for the Muslim community, a man arrives late for the morning prayer at the Grande Mosque in Paris, and ends up praying on the street.

On the 6th night of the Sukkot celebration, men from the Loubavitch community, a branch of Hasidism, isolate themselves to study the Deuteronomy book. They will be spending the entire night reading it, before going to the synagog early in the morni

The Buffault Temple is mainly frequentated by portugese Sepharidic Jews, and counts among the 25 synagogs implanted in Paris.

Men from the Loubavitch community go to the synagog up to several times a day. Women are separated from them during prayer and other important celebrations such as weddings or Bar Mitzvahs.

The Sepharidic jewish community celebrates Pourim at the Buffault temple. It is custom that night to dress up in costumes, and study the Book of Esther.

Two young children participate at the sunday mass at Saint-Ambroise's church.

While men are praying in the hall of the Beth Haya Mouchka, facing Jerusalem, a portrait of the rabbi Mendel Schneerson is seen on the wall. He was considered as the messia by a large part of the Jewish community.

On Eid el Kebir's day, finding a sheep that is sacrificed according to the custom is extremely difficult for Muslims living in France. At Sarcelles, near Paris, a mobile slaughterhouse was set up, and more than a thousand animals were killed followi

A family holds the Roch Hachana diner, the Jewish New Year celebrated in September. This celebration is particularely observed by Jewish communities, no matter how practising they are.

Sunday mass in Saint-Joseph-des-Nations' church, one of the more than 200 churches in Paris.

During Sukkot celebration, it is custom for the Jews to spend a week in a booth. In France, especially in an urban environment such as Paris, this tradition is difficult to observe, therefore, some mobile Sukkas are driven around the city so members

The Rue Petit's Beth habad holds a school, a party hall, a kindergarten and its own synagog. Beth Habads are, for the Loubavitch community, the heart of their religious practice, but also communitarian and social life.

Hundreds of men are forced to pray on the street on Eid el Kebir's day because of the lack of space in the mosque. In Paris, there are less than 25 mosques for the entire muslim community.

The WEIGHT OF SILENCE

This documentary is a long term project that I started seven months ago, that documents the weight of religion in people’s daily life in Paris, focusing on various communities issued from Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Most of the rites take place behind closed doors, following the principle of laicity in France, but yet, by documenting these communities through celebrations and cults during an entire year, I tried to explore how something invisible can affect the visible, and the impact it has on the rhythm of thousands of persons’s life.

Chloe Sharrock

At the age of 8 years old, I found in a basement an old Ricoh camera. What seemed like a great toy at first, quickly became an indispensable instrument to communicate and express my vision of the world. After history of art studies in Lyon, followed by cinema studies specialized in aesthetics and documentary in Paris, fields that still influence my work today, I quickly came back to photography through a more journalistic approach. My work now focuses on religion, seing it as a complex and rich cultural network. I try to highlight the way that communities organise themselves around cult and tradition.

I am now based in Paris and member of the photo agency CIRIC.

Estelle Car

A SQUAT LIKE NO OTHER

One year ago, the image of Aylan Kurdi provoked a global emotion and shed light on the crisis of the refugees, launching an impulse of solidarity in Europe. A year later, boats no longer arrive on the Greek coasts. Prior to the agreement with Turkey in March, Greece was a transit country. Today, it has become an unfortunate host country. According to the Greek government, 54,000 people are now (2017) stuck in Greece following the closure of borders in the Western Balkans. This is a real challenge for a country facing a severe economic crisis, particularly in terms of housing and subsistence.

Hotel City Plaza hotel is located in the heart of Athens. It shut down 7 years ago during the economic crisis. It was invested in April 2016 by Greek left-wing activists and transformed into a self-managed place where to live for and by refugees. Today, 400 refugees live there, including 180 minors. The hotel only relies on private donations from Greece and elsewhere. The guests must all take part in the life together. Different teams were created, devoted to the household, cooking, security, logistics, education, health, etc.

Estelle Car

Estelle Car studied Management of Cultural Projects and gave an international dimension to her studies, taking the opportunity given to her to live some time in Ireland and then in Argentina on student abroad exchange programmes. Back in Brittany (France), she coordinated writing residences for European film directors and screenwriters.

In 2015/2016 she decided to study photography at the EFET School in Paris. A new journey, which affirms her taste for documentary photography. Estelle focuses on photographing places of gathering, where she can feel that a human energy emerges, that emotions are expressed through the group. She is also documenting today’s social issues, and it was in this context that she made two reports in Athens in the summer of 2016 about the refugees’ crisis.

Yves Commandré (c.) and two friends prepare a pig. Fraissinet de Lozère, January 19, 2017. The tradition of the "tue-cochon", though not specific to the Cévennes, is widely practiced in the farms of the region. Cheap, token of quality and environmen

Etienne Maury

The Gorges du Tarn. Les Vignes, 11 January 2017. This landscape is well-known and appreciated by hundreds of thousands of tourists every summer. Located in the "optimal" (recommended) adhesion zone, the municipality chose not to renew its adhesion t

A parking lot set up for the influx of tourists in the summer season, in the Gorges du Tarn. Saint-Georges de Lévéjac, January 11, 2017.

The local soccer field. Le Pont-de-Montvert, February 26, 2016. It is located on the closest large enough flat surface, a few kilometers away from the village.

A trailer waiting for the coming summer. Sainte-Énimie, January 11, 2017. Tourism is a major economic income for the remote area of the Cévennes, and two visions cohabit: The first considers the National Park as restraining development activities, t

Fabien Chaptal, a shepherd, leads his animals off their sheepfold. Mivajols, February 22, 2016. Livestock farming is a traditional activity and an important economic sector in the Cévennes. Due to the isolation of the region and the rugged landscape

Felipe Mourao, a lumberjack, heads back to his truck after a day of work. Barre des Cévennes, January 16, 2017. Wood cutting activities are the third major economic activity in the region. Planning is made together by the Park administration and the

Wood logs on the side of a road. Florac, February 23, 2016.

Locals gather sawdust for their dry-toilets at a sawmill. Cocurès, January 12, 2017. Many locals have a strong environmentalist point of vue and have developed a strong relationship with their environment.

A panorama of the South of the Cévennes National Park. Saint-Maurice de Ventalon, January 18, 2017. In the middle-ground, a firebreak. The Cévennes area, located in southern France, often face hot summers. Resinous tree forests are easily set ablaze

Christophe during a stalking hunt. Le Pont de Montvert, February 25, 2016. Hunting is allowed in the Cévennes National Park, with restrictions set up by the Park administration and local hunter associations.

A hunting trophy in a pub. Le Pont-de-Montvert, February 23, 2016. Hunting is a traditional activity in the region, as well as a way to ensure meat for the household. It also helps to manage the population of large mammals such as wild boars and cer

A shepherd dog of "patou" breed. Fraissinet de Lozère, January 17, 2017. They are specially trained to protect cattle from wolf attacks. The natural alpha hunter used to inhabit the region, but was eradicated by cattle farmers centuries ago. The ide

The sheepfold of a familial farm. Mijavols, February 22, 2016.

A wild sheep surveillance event. Valleraugue, March 19, 2016. Countings of animal species are common in the Park, and provide for information on the populations, then used to determine hunting quotas. Often made together by the Park administration a

A Menhir dating back to around 2000 B.C. Cham des Bondons, February 23, 2016. Pre-historical human activities are widely documented in the Cévennes, and today's natural beauty of the landscapes seems to indicate that man and nature lived in a relati

Life in the Cévennes National Park

There are ten National Parks on the French territory. In these, biodiversity is deemed worthy to be protected for our future generations. Local residents and regional development plans have to comply with a specific environmental legislation, enforced by rangers. Each park has it's own historical and social background, but they cover four different climates with strong specific human/nature relationships: mountainous, Mediterranean, continental and tropical. De facto, they are the largest laboratories for cohabitation between man and nature in our country.

This chapter takes place in the Cévennes National Park – and is one of the four chapters that will match the four climates-. It focuses on agropastoralism and the necessity to maintain a sustainable human activity to look after this nature, shaped by millenaries of cattle farming.

This project is still ongoing. An other chapter, focusing on the Port-Cros National Park, is available here: http://hanslucas.com/emaury/photo/6641#

Etienne Maury

Etienne Maury is a photographer and multimedia director based in the French Alps. Following on scientific studies, he shifted to documentary photography and followed the photojournalism section of the EMI-CFD school in Paris. His first essays were focused on sidelined communities, among others Navajos fighting for their ancestral lands in Arizona, and integration of Armenian orphans in the Lebanese society. He also pursued a long-term multimedia project on dubstep music and its appeal to a generation, from the underground to main stages around the world.

For the last years, he turned his interest to environmental stories and cohabitation between humans and nature around them. Since 2014, he explores French National Parks and their inhabitants and dedicated much of 2016 as the filmmaker and interactive director on an ongoing transmedia project on the stakes surrounding forests in the DR-Congo, the second largest tropical forest basin in the world.

Fabrice Caterini

In front of the laboratory of Bure, France.
Bure is an isolated village of 82 inhabitants in eastern-north France. It has become the new frontline of ecological activism. In the next 10 years, the most dangerous nuclear waste will start to be buri

This is the new frontline of ecological activism

Bure is a remote French village of 82 inhabitants. In the next 10 years, the most dangerous nuclear waste will start to be buried here, 500 meters underground, supposedly for hundreds of thousands of years.

Together, French and Europeans activists are trying to prevent the construction of this unique and massive deep geological storage facility. This reportage follows their struggle in a post-Fukushima era.

The village and its wide surroundings have been chosen by the ANDRA, the French national agency for radioactive waste management, to build half a kilometer underground a massive and unique deep geological storage facility. The facility, named CIGEO, is planned to be filled with waste over the next century and is the hidden legacy of a nearly all-nuclear policy. Despite all warnings, France is still the nation with the most important share of nuclear electricity, 76,3%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Fabrice Caterini

Fabrice Caterini (b. 1982) grew up in the French countryside. His passion for Kubrick and Fuller led him to film studies and journalism, where he sharpened his sense of framing, rhythm and storytelling.

He mainly documents stories of communities, immigration and social issues. Along freelancing for French or International magazines, he has worked on a long-term basis on the aftermath of the economic crisis in Greece and Ireland, the paths of immigration along the Turkish border or the Iraqi diaspora in France, Lebanon, Sweden and USA.

He co-founded Inediz, a press agency and production company dedicated to multimedia projects, photo-essays and in-depth storytelling. His pictures and videos have appeared in French or International magazines such as The Guardian, Le Monde, Narratively, National Geographic and Paris Match.

Inside some cars, the heat is difficult to support. It was very desesperate here and many famillies have been separated on the road.

Hugo Aymar

Since the beginning of the year 2015, several hundred thousand refugees from the Middle East and Africa have taken the Balkan Route trying to join the European Union.

A decisive step in their journey was the crossing of the border between Serbia and Hungary. Until the mid-September 2015, people used to go directly from Belgrade to Budapest.

To enter Hungary, groups of refugees had to cross the border illegaly at night. By groups of ten or 20, they have to walk 5 to 7 hours through the fields to reach the first city in the Hungarian side. They have to walk in the picth dark, carrying b

Once arrived in Hungary, they have to hide from the police and try to reach Budapest. But in fact, more than ninety pourcent of them were caught just after crossing the border. In case of interception, people fear of having to leave their fingerprin

The fence erected on September 2015 on the border between Serbia and Hungary had the effect of deriving the flow of migrants. They must now pass further west through Croatia. In a few days, thousand of them have gone through the Tovarnik train stat

The station quickly became an informal camp for refugees coming from Serbia and people were stuck here, forced to leave with trains provided by the Croatian state.

Each day, thousands of people were waiting for trains and nobody really knew at what time trains would arrive or what their destination was.

There were only 2 or 3 trains a day for thousands of people which created a very tense situation.

The fence erected on the Serbo-Hungarian border is the first stage in the closure of the Balkan route. A few months later, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia also decided to close their borders. As a result, hundreds of young Afghans and Pakistanis have

In last february temperatures have dropped below -10 degrees. With no toilets and only one water point people are trying to make a life there in deplorable sanitary conditions.

Every day, at 1 pm, hundreds of refugees line up to eat a hot meal under the eyes of a small team of Serbian police officers. Volunteers from all over Europe distribute nearly 1,000 meals a day.

Refugees are burning wood from the train station, which contains chimical products.

In the warehouse, the atmosphere is unbreathable because of the fire, the only source of heat.

Refugees are burning wood from the train station, which contains chimical products. Thats why some of them prefer to sleep in the cold, away from fires.

Most of them have already tried to cross the Hungarian border without success and are hoping, without conviction, for the reopening of the European borders.
While they are struggling every day in the heart of the serbian capital, they remain forgott

Since the beginning of the year 2015, several hundred thousand refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa have taken the Balkan Road trying to join the European Union.

A decisive step in their journey was the crossing of the border between Serbia and Hungary. Until the mid-September 2015, people used to go directly from Belgrade to Budapest, crossing illegaly the border at night. Now they must go through Croatia, further west. Most of them went through Tovarnik train station. They arrive here by hundreds and leave with few buses and trains chartered by the Croatian state. Many families from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran, some separated on the road, waiting to finally get on a train to join Germany, the promised land for most of refugees.

The fence erected on the Serbo-Hungarian border on September 15, 2015 marks the first stage in the closure of the Balkan road. A few months later, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia also decided to close their borders. As a result, hundreds of young Afghans and Pakistanis have taken refuge in warehouses of the central station of Belgrade where they remain forgotten and almost invisible in the eyes of Europe.

Hugo Aymar

Hugo Aymar (1988) is a French photojournalist and documentary photographer, based in Paris. He integrated the Institute of Political Study of Grenoble in 2008 before taking a degree in history, achieved in 2011. He integrated the Photojournalist formation of EMI-CFD in September 2012.

Hugo Aymar has since documented the refugee crisis in Europe. One of the Winners of the “30 under 30“ contest organized by Magnum Photos, Hugo Aymar also won a Remarkable Awrad at the Siena International Photo Awards 2016 and was exhibited during the Kolga Tbilissi Photo 2016.

The procedure is performed with a vacuum method, the most modern and the fastest abortion method. One hour before, each patient is given a medication that softened the inside of the uterus to facilitate access during the procedure. The operation las

Kasia Strek

Ela (33) comes from a very catholic family. For several years she has been treated for gynaecological problems, she had 3 operations on her right ovary and has had three miscarriages. Her last pregnancy was in danger from the beginning. After the me

At 7:00 am Polish women are all in the gynaecological waiting room. They are often surprised by the number of people present. Klaudia (22) and Kuba (21), came from Bialystok distant 800 km from Prenzlau. The journey took them 28 hours. The doctor th

After the abortion women stay for a medical check-up before going back to Poland. Dr. Rudzinski, Pole living in Germany for 30 years and a head of the department of gynaecology is very accessible to his patients, at each appointment he tries to make

Joanna (27) is in 12th week of her pregnancy, she felt very badly from the beginning. During prenatal research her child was diagnosed with Edwards' syndrome, a chromosomal disease most of the time resulting in the prenatal death. Despite the theore

Maria (32) aborted 10 years ago. The gynaecologist found by her mother gave her a pill and made an injection. The pills cost 400 euro, the gynaecologist counted the money three times before speaking to her. She was given a pill to swallow and she re

The town of Prenzlau in Germany is located only 50 km from the border with Poland. The public hospital is one of the main foreign clinics where Polish women go for abortions, there are between 20 to 30 women each week. In Germany abortion is legal a

Anna / Piotr (41) is a transgender person, a lesbian and a mother of an 18-year-old boy with Down’s syndrome. He grew up in a small town where she discovered her sexuality. After several sexual intercourses with women he did not really know that he

Kaja (23) was drugged and raped during a party in her village. She did not remember anything and found out a month and a half later that she was pregnant. Despite her mother's persuasions, she was determined not to keep the child, she wanted a diffe

Misoprostol and Mifepristone are drugs used by women to terminate pregnancy pharmacologically. One is accessible in Poland under the form of medication for osteoarthritis, the other one is prohibited. Pills are therefore sent to women by foreign org

Karolina, a lawyer specializing in reproductive rights, and Natalia, researcher at the university and a feminist very involved in the battle for legal abortion in Poland have been friends for several years. In a hotel room after a day of travel and

A street art painting designed by Marta Frej, a socially engaged illustrator, was painted in the centre of Warsaw to commemorate the Black Monday marches held in October 2016. More than 100,000 people protested against the tightening up of the anti-

Justyna (43) aborted 10 years ago. She is a mother of three children and lives in a small town 100 km from Warsaw. Today, along with a few other women, she runs "Women in Web", a phone line and the only Internet forum for women who want to organize

Most often women come to the clinic accompanied by their spouses. In Poland a woman who has aborted is not penalized, but all the people who help her to abort can risk up to 3 years in prison. Even though in reality since implementation of the law 2

On access to abortion in Poland

In October 2016 about 100 thousand women and men in Poland went on the streets all over the country to protest against a bill of total ban of abortion. After this moment, as a young Polish woman, fortunate enough to never have to face this challenge, I decided to investigate what does it mean for a woman to abort in a country in the middle of Europe with so restricted reproductive rights.

Poland, a country with a powerful influence of the Catholic Church, has one of the most restrictive legislation on abortion in Europe. Abortion for economic or social reasons was permitted in the country until the 1993. Today, the procedure is theoretically permitted only when the mother's health is in danger, in case of rape and in case of serious foetal pathology. In reality, even in these cases, access remains almost impossible forcing women to travel to the clinics abroad, or for those less wealthy, to order abortive pills through internet or take medicine for arthritis or stomach ulcers that cause them miscarriages.

Kasia Strek

Kasia Strek is a polish photojournalist based between Paris and Warsaw, member of the CIRIC photography agency. She studied fine arts and photography at Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, Poland, National School of Fine Arts in Lyon, France and Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, Australia. Her photography practice focuses on subjects related to social inequalities, the environmental issues and the impact of human activity on disadvantaged communities. Photography is for her the way of taking action, of engaging in society and of directing attention to the issues that are not given enough importance. She divides her work between assignments for press, NGOs and development of personal projects.

She is currently working in the Philippines on the second chapter of her long term project “My Choice Anyway” treating about human consequences of restricted access to abortion in the countries where the procedure is partly or completely forbidden.

Lucie Mach

“Jordan” is a travel diary that give a feeling on nowadays Jordan's society.
Since the war started in Syria in 2012, 657 000 Syrian refugees try to build a new life in Jordan.
Lucie went to the cities of Amman, Irbid, Zarqa and in Zaatari Refugee c

Asna, 7 month pregnant in her caravan in Zaatari camp.

Kona and her family, refugees from Damascus.

Injured syrian refugee working medical center

Jordan

“Jordan” is a travel diary that give a feeling on nowadays Jordan's society. Since the war started in Syria in 2012, 657 000 Syrian refugees try to build a new life in Jordan. Lucie went to the cities of Amman, Irbid, Zarqa and in Zaatari Refugee camp to meet Jordanians and Syrians to know more about the reality of integration in Jordan. Fed by their stories and their common sense of resilience, she found relevant moment in the(ir) environment that could represent an ambient state of mind.

“Syrians are not bad people, they just want to work and to make a living. But they come, work illegal and compete with us. They get jobs even more than the Jordanians. Everybody hire them. Jordan is a small country and we don't need too much Syrians so Jordanians can live too. We always think that Jordanians and Syrians are brothers. We should help them but i'm not gonna hire a Syrian to take the risk to get fine or to see my restaurant close because of that”.

Ray, owner of a restaurant in Irbid, Jordan.

Lucie Mach

Lucie Mach (France, 1988) is a freelance photographer. She obtained a Master degree in Photography in 2016 from KASK, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.

Inspired by people's life and feeling, she reveals a state of mind. She looks for poetic and significant moment in the daily life to unveil a felt atmosphere. Documentary based, she suggests more than to show in order to give a personal point of view on the situation. Her projects deal with notions of cultural heritage, migration and living condition while questioning perspectives of life.

Mathias Benguigui

Lesbos Today

In 2015, in one year almost 1 million people reached Europe after they fled their country. At this moment, the world is facing the largest refugee crisis since WWII. Most of the migrants have chosen the Oriental road, taking boats from Turkey to Greece.

Lesbos, a Greek island, located in the Aegean Sea just in front of the Turkey coast, suffered the consequences of refugee crisis like no other place in the world, by welcoming more than 500.000 refugees on its beach in one year. Among them there are families, kids, grandparents, lonely women, and all of them fled war, economy and social crisis. It was the first frontline of refugee crisis in Europe.

In March 2016, Europe made a deal with Turkish authorities in order to stop the flow, which was named Ankara accords that led to the closure of Turkish borders. To me, it is essential to testify the life on Lesbos today, two years later after the medias left. What’s going on there now, when the flow decreased? How’s the life on Lesbos continuing for locals, refugees and volunteers? This body of work is an ongoing project, and the story is yet to be told.

Mathias Benguigui

Mathias Benguigui is a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Paris. He made a B.A at the Lyon School of Photography.

After being working for several years as a corporate and commercial photographer, Mathias decided to become a documentary photographer in 2015, when he started a photojournalism diploma in the EMI-CFD (Paris). In 2016 he won the Paris Match Photojournalism Student prize. He worked as picture editor for Libération and Agence France Presse in 2016.

In his personal work, it is particularly important to focus on long-term projects which allow him to witness stories next to the door as well as to work around the world while remaining outside the “hot news”.

Born and raised in South of France, he grew up in a Mediterranean culture which encourage him to follow the topics related to the relationship between the human and his environment.

Maude Girard

Aladdin, Gilia, Victorine, Valentin and Sandrine, the founding members are assisted by around ten shifting volunteers. For the moment all are unpaid, only the chef perceives a symbolic remuneration far from the standards of the profession.

The first version of the canteen was born in 2014 in an unocuppied apartment, before being closed a month later. Later on, they discovered the immense 1,000 M2 premises belonging to the town hall, located in Auguste Baron square, which had been left

"We want to revitalize those empty spaces and also offer places where diversity is present, which has disappeared in Paris. There is a real lack of mixing because of selections at the entrance and ubiquitous standards".

Each year, 10 millions tonnes of food are wasted in France, which represents the equivalent of 20 billion meals. On the menu that evening : Cream of cucumber and roasted melon - Potato rounds and its comfit of cabbage with coconut milk.

7:30 pm arrival of the first customers. That evening, there will be about 80 people eating in the warehouse. The Freegan Pony is a "pay what you want" restaurant.

The menus are made with recovery food and are entirely vegetarian. Nevertheless, the concept results more from an observation on the drifts of the french society than from a militant approach. The restaurant is not vegetarian by conviction but by ne

Aladdin (one of the founding members), is no longer at his first attempt. Nicknamed the "man with 1001 squats" he had already launched two spots dedicated to altrernative parties. The Pony Club, located in an old horse slaughterhouse and The Pipi Ca

In March 2016, the future of the Freegan Pony was in the hands of justice. Two scenarios were possible. Either the expulsion notice for illegal occupation was upheld and the Freegan had to close, or the project attracted the elected officials and th

To defend their case, they argued that they wanted to make it a place of social mix, a convivial place that is especially open to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood and to the migrants. But the peripheral location of the restaurant makes it compli

On July, after months of litigation, they obtained a temporary tenancy agreement for two years with an annual rent of 25,000 euros and upgrading work of 250,000 euros.

Freegan

On the 3rd of February 2016, French parliament adopted a series of measures against food waste. Including in particular, provisions to prevent supermarkets from throwing food and make the unsold unfit for human consumption. However, some have not waited for the law to fight against food waste. Since November 2015, an unusual canteen, the Freegan Pony, has been occupying former premises of Porte de la Villette in Paris, under the ring road. Created on the initiative of a group of young people, the restaurant offers vegetarian menus made with the daily unsold of the Rungis market.

Maude Girard

Maude Girard is a French photojournalist based in Paris.

A graduate from journalism school, she also holds a bachelor degree in Arabic from the prestigious INALCO and a master’s degree in cinema studies from the Sorbonne.

She has worked for media (online and print) in the Middle East, with a focus on Egypt and Lebanon. She has also worked for several production companies in France.

Maude maintains a strong focus on photographic and visual creativity throughout her work, capturing everyday life or major events, always defining key moments of social change.

She is currently working on the millennial generation, on how they live through and react to their social and economical environment.

Maxime Matthys

Sanae moved in in the middle of September, to follow lessons at the university. She chose this flat because the rent is cheap. She has watering eyes since she lives next to the ring road. Her doctor says that It may be because of the air pollution.

Meledgi has moved 16 years ago in front of the ring road. She has developed an unknown auto-immune illness, which is affecting her daily life. Her 15 years old son almost died because of an asthma crisis when he was young, and is often undergoing cr

Ahmed is living in front of the ring road since 1997. He has no health problem, but thinks that it comes later, as the asbestos scandal. He is never opening the window, except to clean it every week. They get dirty very quickly -he says- and the di

SMOG

This documentary serie talks about the air pollution in big cities. The following pictures are the first of the serie. Maxime Matthys started this project by photographing the buildings located in front of the Parisian ring road, and their occupant. They are exposed 365 days a year to very high level of fine particles and other pollutants, and most of them suffer from allergies, asthma and other illnesses.

In France, more than 40 000 persons are dying each year, because of the air pollution and especially fine particles.

Maxime Matthys

Maxime Matthys is a Belgian photographer born in Bruxelles in 1995 and based in Paris. He integrated the photography school of Toulouse in 2014 and followed a workshop at the EMI-CFD Paris in 2017. His work is mainly focusing on new forms of narrative in documentary photography and taking interest in contemporary issues that are shaping our society.

Armenia, Chinari, 23 November, 2014

Khoranashat monastery (13 century) is located 200m from Azeri military posts.
Only three years ago, mass was still being held under this dome.

Yulia Grigoryants

Yulia Grigoryants

Armenia, Tavush Province, 22 November 2014

This area had big economic importance for the region during the Soviet time. Today, it is a neutral zone and is only used by Armenia and Azerbaijan to exchange captives and bodies.

Yulia Grigoryants

Armenia, Chinari, 23 November 2014

An Armenian soldier points at Armenia-Azerbaijan border on the map. Recent tensions have been concentrated along north-eastern border in Tavush Provins.

Yulia Grigoryants

Talish, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, 29 April 2016

The view of Talish village few days after the frozen conflicted exploded in April 2016.

Yulia Grigoryants

Nagorno-Karabakh, Talish, 30 April 2016

Nagorno-Karabakh defense army soldier observes the situation on the border.

Yulia Grigoryants

Armenia, Chinari, 23 November 2014

On 7 August 2014. Karen Petrosyan, 33 y.o., a native of Chinari village, gets lost near the border. Within hours, Azerbaijan has announced, that he was saboteur; by the next day, the death of Karen was announced,

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Martakert Province, 29 April 2016

For security reasons the road leading to Talish village in Nagorno-Karabakh is protected with soil and sand.

Yulia Grigoryants

Armenia, Chinari, 9 February 2015

During the last few years the kindergarten of Chinari village turned into one of the targets for Azeri Army. For security reasons, the state blocked all the windows and even at noon electrical light is needed here

Armenia, Nerqin-Karmiraghbyur, 7 February 2015

On 5 February 2015 Vanik Ghukasyan, 60 y.o., native of Nerqin Karmiraghbyur village, is shot dead by Azeri armed forces in his own house.

Yulia Grigoryants

Armenia, Chinari, 23 November 2014

For security reasons all windows of secondary school in Chinari village were blocked.

Yulia Grigoryants

Armenia, Nerqin Karmiraghbyur, 7 February 2015

Mother gives an evening bath to her child. Especially in the evenings people avoid going out from the house. Bathrooms are usually located outside.

Yulia Grigoryants

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Shushi, 2 May 2016

An old man carries drinking water in the city of Shushi, the former cultural center of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Yulia Grigoryants

Armenia, Chinari, 23 November 2014

Azerbaijan handed over the body of Karen Petrosyan only 2 months after his death. It was tortured so badly that the funeral ceremony had a closed coffin. Karen’s mother never saw the body of her son.

Yulia Grigor

Armenia, Chinari, 9 February 2015

Almost all the houses in the border villages are outfitted like military posts.

Yulia Grigoryants

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Talish, 3 May 2016

The remains of the war in 90ies are mixed here with recent destructions.

Yulia Grigoryants

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Shushi, 1 May 2016

World War II memorial, with bullet traces from the war in 90's.

Yulia Grigoryants

An Unfinished War

For the last two decades, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have been living under constant threat of a very fragile and frequently violated ceasefire. Inhabitants of border villages and soldiers alike have been living like “hostages”, trapped between peace and war.

Violence against the Armenian population in the Azerbaijan SSR in the late 1980s, the fight for the independence of disputed Nagorno-Karabakh and its reunion with Armenia SSR lead to a large-scale war by the early 1990s. After 5 years of war, a cease-fire agreement was signed. But the frozen conflict between the two nations has never been settled and is on the brink of escalating into full-scale war once again.

The ceasefire violations are especially evident throughout the entire Nagorno-Karabakh - Azerbaijan line of contact and even along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. On the night of April 2, 2016, tensions erupted when Azerbaijan launched attacks along the entire line of contact. Four days of intense fighting followed, highlighted by the use of heavy artilery, tanks, and military helicopters, which resulted in hundreds of casualties on both sides. The fighting was eventually halted by another ceasefire agreement. In the uncertain conditions of this tenuous ceasefire, a full-scale war may start any day.

Yulia Grigoryants

Yulia Grigoryants is an independent photographer and producer from Armenia currently living between France and Armenia. Her extensive professional background in documentary film production helped develop her storytelling abilities while covering social, cultural, and human rights issues including conflict zones.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, she fled the country in 1988 because of violence against the Armenian population. She grew up during a time of important political and social changes for Armenia, with the transition from the Soviet system to independence, devastating earthquake, five years of war, and years of social-economic hardship, which still continues to this day.

Yulia’s works have been exhibited and published internationally, including Washington Post, L’oeil de la Photographie, etc. In 2015 her photographs were twice exhibited at UN House Armenia. Next year Yulia won The Best New Talent award at IPA-CIS, was nominated for the annual Lucie Award and shortlisted for Sony World photography award.