Figures, Faces - Homo Urbanus: A Journey Through Human Identity in Today's Creation

As early as 2017, photographer Cyrus Cornut, in his iconic report on Chinese megalopolises, sounded the alarm. Soon, all human presence will be reduced to a tiny but heroic figure, opposing at all costs the destruction of its territory and its memory. In an almost retrofuturistic manner, this selection takes this theme of the "homo urbanus" of the present and future times as its common thread. Whether it's a direct gaze (Tom Spach) or a digital reconstruction (Yongliang Yang), everything confirms the devastating effects of limitless urbanization. And yet these works fascinate us as much as they frighten us. The motif of the staircase that climbs to the heights (Tom Spach, Othmane Bencheqroun) or descends to the depths (Vincent Tanguy, Juliette Larochette) becomes an almost metaphysical experience. Just like the crossing of two people in the middle of an improbable crossroads captured by Bleu XIII. And even when the human figure is not visible in the image, as in Xavier Dumoulin's gas station, we still perceive its presence. Is it there deep within the grain of the image, like Antonioni's famous film "Blow Up," or will it arrive the next second, like in Hitchcock's suspense films? Thanks to the virtuosity of his pictorial technique, Gaëtan Dubroca immerses us in the world of those who resist in the heart of the rubble. Will we be able to pay attention to what the reality of the world expresses to us?