Those pictures were taken over spring 2016 in what was called the Calais Jungle. They display some of the constructions that were built by refugees and association workers in the slum, which sheltered several thousands of people since 2014 and was dismantled in October 2016 on government order. The constructions shown here are isolated from their context. They are isolated from the original environment which has polarized media attention for so many years and about which so much as been said, shown, written on, and which was finally destroyed as no better option was found. Perhaps so that it can’t be seen anymore. The buildings are standing in front of us, isolated from a noisy context. They are not talking anymore about an inextricable situation, neither are they the symbol of an international crisis, a problem we struggle to solve, a drama we don’t want to watch. They are simply standing in front of us and talk just for themselves. They are questioning us. Sometimes with violence, but also with humour. Beyond the cliches and the miserable representations which are usually associated with such places as the Calais Jungle, those constructions show us the incredible resilience of the people who built them. They tell us about the lives that strive for a new start, about cleverness, creativity, hope, and mutual assistance. They talk to us about pain, but also about strength and optimism. As many qualities that, in another world, we might have been able to acknowledge. 

NB : In February 2016, the Administrative Court of Lille approved the deconstruction of the south part of the Jungle. However, the judge concluded that some of the shelters built by the migrants could be considered as « places of living », « which are necessary to the migrants and to which they are attached for cultural reasons mostly. The Judge in charge of the case considers consequently that the evacuation measure should not be applied to those places of living. ». Considering this decision, migrants and associations started writings on the shacks. Most of them were destroyed a few days later, during the demolition of the south part of the Jungle.

A place to live.

This series questions domestic violence and our response to it, through its most extreme expression: conjugal homicides.  In France, one woman dies every 3 days under the assault of her partner or ex. Those «tragedies of separation» or so-called «crimes of passion» punctuate too often the short news columns of the local press. They tell us about similar stories: a man shot his wife because she wanted to leave him. Another one stabbed his partner as he thought she was cheating on him. Those crimes happen so regularly that they seem to be perceived as tragic but trivial events, as if domestic violence was a phenomenon against which there’s not much to do. However, some particularly dreadful details sometimes manage to raise awareness on the violence of those murders. Like Marcelle’s story : a 90 years old retired woman who was battered to death with a cooking pan by her husband in their suburbian home. Or Thalie’s, a 36 years old management consultant beaten up to death with a mixer tap by her partner. Horror calls on indignation and suddently the violence of the act appears into its full dimension.  This is precisely the angle I have choosen to tackle this subject. My photographic work focuses on those homely objects which are turned into lethal weapons. The sight of those familiar items does not reflect the violent stories they are related to. This contrast creates a distance that gives time for reflection.  Murders of women by their partners or ex are not isolated facts happening once in a while among some specific contexts or social categories. The analysis of the 250 cases -at least- of women who were killed in such conditions in France in 2016 / 2017 shows that it is actually a phenomenon which happens among couples of every age and profession. They always take place in situations of conjugal crisis, separation, or jealous control of a man on a woman that he considers as its own.  Those crimes happen too often to be coincidental. They reveal a gendered violence that we have to start analysing.  

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Camille Gharbi

A place to live.

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