Lunéville: People from elsewhere photograph their intimate city

On the banks of the Canal des Petits Bosquets, a large camera sits on its tripod. Natalia, a Ukrainian displaced since the war in her country, prepares to press the shutter under the watchful eye of Alexandre Guirkinger. She chose to immortalize the small bridge spanning the canal. "I like this place. I've often walked here since I arrived in Lunéville. I feel a lot of emotion when I think about my country and my family," she says.

The duo heads toward the waterfall for another shot. Then to a supermarket, "the place to do the shopping." The day before, she had chosen the Saint-Jacques church, the cinema, the Abbé's garden, and Rue du Rempart, her home.

"We use a large-format 20 x 25 cm view camera, the queen of cameras," says Alexandre Guirkinger, a professional photographer from the Paris region. He led a three-week workshop for people of various nationalities: Dominican Republic, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, who have been living in Lunéville for some time. He is hosted by Le CRI des Lumières at the château.

This initiative is supported by the Ministry of Culture, as part of its “Between Images” program, via the Diagonale network.

"This is my ^ninth workshop in France. I've been to Carcassonne, Givors, Strasbourg... This represents nearly 250 diptychs. I generally take eight people and we shoot in pairs. The idea of ​​the workshop is for these people to convey, in their photos, their state of mind and/or a call to their memories. We will print in black and white, fun and easy for the participants. A writing section in the mother tongue after the print will complete the diptychs."

Natalia hasn't thought about this part yet. Amateur photographers from elsewhere will leave with copies of their prints.

Alexandre Guirkinger would like to hold a 10th workshop before preparing an exhibition which could be held in Lunéville.