Two recently published works attempt to transcribe the working-class
world through photographs or postcards. These contributions, most often
ignored, prove to be rich in lessons. ---- These iconographic traces of
the working-class world are rather rare. Most often, they belong to the
forgotten worlds of History. ---- The first book is set at the beginning
of the 20th century. Social conflicts, sometimes extremely violent,
multiply as many expressions of struggles for working-class dignity and
social recognition.
At that time, the visual medium for these moments of revolt and
repression remains the postcard. Press photography relating these facts
is rare. It is very often the expression of the dominant. The stories
and images offered immerse us in the heart of these past stories and
reveal collective adventures and revolts for some forgotten.
The strength of this book, an expanded reissue of a previous
out-of-print work, lies in these collective expressions of the lives of
women and men who were the actors and actresses. If the revolts in the
"Black Country" in 1906 or in Nantes and Languedoc in 1907 come to mind;
that of the buttonmakers of Méru in 1909 or the boltmakers in the Loire
department in 1910 are real discoveries.
All these struggles demonstrate the voluntary and determined character
of these women, these men and sometimes of the entire population. This
book is a magnificent tribute to the collective struggles waged in the
past. A powerful feeling of mutual aid runs through the work. A very
educational book, a poignant testimony!
The second book belongs to this period, just after the Yellow Vests
movement in 2018. It deals with industrial landscapes, workers in their
places of work, but also in their struggles. We are offered an immersion
in the ports of Saint Nazaire, Lorient, in the Breton agri-food
factories, or even, near Montceau-les-Mines, at Michelin, in Le Creusot
at Safran, in the Ferropem factory in Livet-et-Gavet or in the silicon
production unit of Château-Feuillet, in La Léchère, in the heart of the
factories of the Tarentaise valley.
Multiple landscapes, differentiated universes with the common
denominator of working life in its multiple facets.
This book evokes these snapshots of working or union life in which more
than one will recognize themselves. How can we not perceive all the
humanity contained in the serious looks of these union leaders grappling
with the difficulties of employees.
These shared anxieties of times of layoffs, but also these smiles, these
jokes that say more than many speeches. All this connivance of laughing
faces, this pride of these workers posing in front of the lens, all this
complicity expresses mutual aid and struggle. It is felt beyond the
photographic medium.
The big difference with the previous one is the collective fact, here
more fragmented, more individualized. The historical times are not the
same, the salary realities differ. This second work targets more the
daily and its banality than the strong moments of the protest action.
The omnipresent revolt in the first book testifies to the collective
force; the second, puts more emphasis on the individual and the
restricted group.
"Writing is clarifying what one has seen or tried to see"
A perilous exercise where the subjective can exceed what the lens
reveals. The adventure of clarification is not an easy thing. We must
avoid sinking into miserable pathos or glorifying excessively by a
forced workerism.
The challenge is to limit oneself to the role of a simple benevolent
observer, translator of observed facts, seize the moment to express and
extract all the humanity from these situations, made of sweat,
suffering, joy and mutual aid.
Two engaging immersions by their humanity and the benevolence that
accompany the subject. The first, carried by rich documents, constitutes
a historical testimony of prime importance; the second has more current
value.
Dominique Sureau (UCL Angers)
Anne Steiner, Le temps des révoltes. Une histoire en cartes postales des
luttes sociales à la «Belle Époque», éditions l'Échappée, 140 postcards,
22 euros, September 2024.
Daniel Challe, Photos de classe, éditions Syllepse, collection les
Utopiques, 20 euros, February 2024.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Iconographie-Histoires-ouvrieres-et-temps-de-revoltes
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
world through photographs or postcards. These contributions, most often
ignored, prove to be rich in lessons. ---- These iconographic traces of
the working-class world are rather rare. Most often, they belong to the
forgotten worlds of History. ---- The first book is set at the beginning
of the 20th century. Social conflicts, sometimes extremely violent,
multiply as many expressions of struggles for working-class dignity and
social recognition.
At that time, the visual medium for these moments of revolt and
repression remains the postcard. Press photography relating these facts
is rare. It is very often the expression of the dominant. The stories
and images offered immerse us in the heart of these past stories and
reveal collective adventures and revolts for some forgotten.
The strength of this book, an expanded reissue of a previous
out-of-print work, lies in these collective expressions of the lives of
women and men who were the actors and actresses. If the revolts in the
"Black Country" in 1906 or in Nantes and Languedoc in 1907 come to mind;
that of the buttonmakers of Méru in 1909 or the boltmakers in the Loire
department in 1910 are real discoveries.
All these struggles demonstrate the voluntary and determined character
of these women, these men and sometimes of the entire population. This
book is a magnificent tribute to the collective struggles waged in the
past. A powerful feeling of mutual aid runs through the work. A very
educational book, a poignant testimony!
The second book belongs to this period, just after the Yellow Vests
movement in 2018. It deals with industrial landscapes, workers in their
places of work, but also in their struggles. We are offered an immersion
in the ports of Saint Nazaire, Lorient, in the Breton agri-food
factories, or even, near Montceau-les-Mines, at Michelin, in Le Creusot
at Safran, in the Ferropem factory in Livet-et-Gavet or in the silicon
production unit of Château-Feuillet, in La Léchère, in the heart of the
factories of the Tarentaise valley.
Multiple landscapes, differentiated universes with the common
denominator of working life in its multiple facets.
This book evokes these snapshots of working or union life in which more
than one will recognize themselves. How can we not perceive all the
humanity contained in the serious looks of these union leaders grappling
with the difficulties of employees.
These shared anxieties of times of layoffs, but also these smiles, these
jokes that say more than many speeches. All this connivance of laughing
faces, this pride of these workers posing in front of the lens, all this
complicity expresses mutual aid and struggle. It is felt beyond the
photographic medium.
The big difference with the previous one is the collective fact, here
more fragmented, more individualized. The historical times are not the
same, the salary realities differ. This second work targets more the
daily and its banality than the strong moments of the protest action.
The omnipresent revolt in the first book testifies to the collective
force; the second, puts more emphasis on the individual and the
restricted group.
"Writing is clarifying what one has seen or tried to see"
A perilous exercise where the subjective can exceed what the lens
reveals. The adventure of clarification is not an easy thing. We must
avoid sinking into miserable pathos or glorifying excessively by a
forced workerism.
The challenge is to limit oneself to the role of a simple benevolent
observer, translator of observed facts, seize the moment to express and
extract all the humanity from these situations, made of sweat,
suffering, joy and mutual aid.
Two engaging immersions by their humanity and the benevolence that
accompany the subject. The first, carried by rich documents, constitutes
a historical testimony of prime importance; the second has more current
value.
Dominique Sureau (UCL Angers)
Anne Steiner, Le temps des révoltes. Une histoire en cartes postales des
luttes sociales à la «Belle Époque», éditions l'Échappée, 140 postcards,
22 euros, September 2024.
Daniel Challe, Photos de classe, éditions Syllepse, collection les
Utopiques, 20 euros, February 2024.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Iconographie-Histoires-ouvrieres-et-temps-de-revoltes
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten