L  i  e  v  i  n

In Liévin, the mining pits fully close in 1974; (the last pit of the mining basin will close in 1990)
It is a whole culture that desappears, a sure job for the next generation.
Many miners families are waiting for a re-opening that will never come.

In 1989, a commission is given to writers, photographers, movie makers and actors under the direction of the Ad'Hoc agency.
The issue is to help, with artistic action, the changing of activity of inhabitants of the city, coal miners and others.

I then choose to look for traces (of mining, of world war 1) very present in the landscape and for popular culture.
To show the faces, to give to families the ability to present themselves in their dignity, I undertook a serie of photographs in mining villages.
These photographs stand today as a tribute to workers and their culture.

jls