Photographs: Alexiane Carré
Project leaders: Laelia Veron, Pierre-Alain Caltot, the University of Orléans’ Cultural Service
Graphic creation: L. Duval Communication officer for the Bouillon
“For almost a year now, our education has been turned upside down. While the memories of our years of study should have been a jumble of good times, the picture has become bitterly tarnished.
Being a student in 2020-2021 means living in prevailing precariousness, which can be economic for some of us but also – and above all – social.
Being a student in 2020-2021 means waking up in a student flat, however modest it may be, getting ready briefly and spending the whole day in front of a computer screen, alone, without having the possibility of maintaining any social link with one's classmates or teachers. Being a student in 2020-2021 means being subjected to constant solitude. And it is this observation that inspired me.
This led to the creation of a whole series of photographs, with, on the one hand, *in-situ* photographs that bear witness to the psychological unease reigning among students but also among teachers, who are deprived of this essential social link for the smooth running of these years of study that can prove to be difficult periods to go through but that are nevertheless essential for intellectual enrichment and professionalization.
On the other hand, portraits were taken in the corridors of the university. Students and teachers pose alongside some significant figures relating to student distress.
These figures, alarming as they are, are a sad reflection of an unsustainable situation that must change. The aim of this project is therefore to raise awareness of the need for face-to-face teaching at university, and of the help that students need quickly, because their health is at stake. It is by taking all these factors into consideration that the idea of doing this project came to me, and it is by taking all these factors into consideration that teachers, administration, fellow students, shopkeepers (Images Photo Orléans) have mobilised to make it happen.” [Alexiane Carré, student & photographer]
“We have participated in this project because we wanted to support this momentum, to create a dynamic together beyond the usual teacher-student boundary, and finally, to be fully associated with this creative and committed process.” [Bahia Dalens, Pierre-Alain Caltot, Laure Depretto, Laélia Véron, teachers in the Literature Department]
These photographs were taken thanks to the equipment lent by Images Photo Orléans.