Sunken Worlds François de Najac
Creative documentary and Magnumphotojournalism x Spéos 2024
Les Olympiades (Paris 13ème arr.):
an ensemble of high rise buildings erected over a gigantic slab of concrete harboring underground streets, a former goods railway station, commercial galleries and outdoor promenades; built in the early 1970s as a model of high-density urbanism, a symbol of contemporary modernity.
Was it by mere mockery of fate that this urban ensemble came to be the home of the boat-people, refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, who escaped tragedy on makeshift vessels and arrived in France in the late 1970s?
Or was it supposed to be the sarcophagus for their alien identities, humans expected to shrink to the size and rank of ants, assimilated, functional, obedient?
then to die there, in between two floors. © Jenny Teng,
“La Tour”
Human artifacts have sprouted from the cold walls, wherever they could.
Some things are misplaced: the Buddhist temple is in the parking lot underground; prostitutes conduct business a few floors above.
The boat-people have made urban space their own: storefront signs in Chinese, Vietnamese or Cambodian, the smell of Phô broth in the air, the sound of firecrackers during the Lunar New Year celebrations, the posters of lost temples and Khmer dancers.
I feel insignificant in front of these destinies marked by tragedy and the courage and resilience it took to reverse the roll of dice.
Yet I also feel inspired and energized by the colors and grace in the plainness of life, the sharing and laughing in the in-between moments, the curiosity of young generations towards their cultural heritage
François de Najac (b. 1971) is a documentary photographer and storyteller.
Through his photography, François explores the transmission of cultural identity across generations in a context of migration, rapid urbanization and greater permeability to global content through social media. He has focused on communities of East and South-East Asian descent. François has on-going projects in Paris, France; New York and Tennessee, USA; Bangkok, Thailand; and Huế, Vietnam.
François uses photography as a medium to meet people. He favors candid photography, to let his emotional sensors react to the subject or situation, light and color, without the filter of the mind.
François believes that photography can also be a helpful form of expression for subjects through collaborative approaches, especially when words are failing. fdenajac@gmail.com fdenajac.com instagram.com/les_m0ndes_engloutis
