Le rayon de soleil / The ray of light

March 2020, intramural Paris, containment in full swing. Locked at home, hidden behind the curtains, I photograph my neighbors in the courtyard. Outside, the parks are closed, and like many, I cannot admire the budding spring. I miss nature terribly. I then ask my best friend, Isabelle, yes like me, to take pictures from the outside. Our confinements hardly resemble each other. She lives in the Belgian Ardennes countryside and goes every day walking her dog in the woods. A daily photographic dialogue then takes place between us. Every day, I ask her: Could you send me pictures of this, pictures of that? She finds me trees, shadows, dead leaves, forests, blades of grass ... She tries to guess what could inspire me the most. I mix my own pictures with hers. I make them pass on “the other side of the mirror” in a dreamlike world between dream and reality, concrete and nature, freedom and captivity. It is an introspective work. I use my camera as a way to distort, reform, the world so that it looks as close as possible to what I feel. In this way, I recover the situation and I offer myself a few breaths of fresh air and freedom without moving from home. This pic is from the series.