TOKYO-2019 Architecture / Industrial

Small Shops

  • Prize
    Gold in Architecture/Industrial
  • Photographer
    Patrice Picard
  • Photo Date
    2015-2019

I have been walking around towns across France for 5 years, looking for these small shops. Whenever I find one, I make a portrait of it, usually full-face and full-length. These shop windows are like faces revealing human stories, both individual and collective, past or present. Beyond their old-fashioned beauty, I see ingenious lives of work, self-assertive or more humble personalities, desires fulfilled or faded away. Leaving a trace is a way of paying homage to them but also of acknowledging their persistence in our contemporary world and making room for them in our collective imagination.

Photography has been my hobby since I was a teenager. I first took pictures with a film camera, then I stopped for a while. Five years ago, I bought a digital camera, which got me back to my initial passion but with a different approach. Gradually, as my work shaped itself into series, there came the idea of sharing it with other people, so I created my website in fall 2015. Then I decided to participate in contests, which was a way for me to look at my pictures and rework on them from a new perspective. This was stimulating, challenging, and it also allowed me to get some feedback on my work.