Marek DAGUE
Les Mecs 2017
from the series La Goutte d'Or
ink-jet print 29.7 x 42.0cm
La Fumée 2017
from the series La Goutte d'Or
ink-jet print 29.7 x 42.0cm
Les Mains 2017
from the series La Goutte d'Or
ink-jet print 29.7 x 42.0cm
reproduction courtesy of the artist and Princes Hill Secondary College
TOPshots 2017-18 Finalist
VCE Art 3&4
Artist statement:
This image was taken in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. This is a very personal image for my friends, who did not want to be photographed due to problems with the law. The images have a certain ominous quality, as well as a feeling of mystery about the environment and their actions. Why do they stare this way? What is he doing? What is he smoking? Where are they? These questions actually have quite abstract answers. Since the 1950s the French government has housed incoming immigrants in cruel housing commissions, or dangerous area in and around the large cities in France. Having grown up in these circumstances, it was important for me too show how we live, and more importantly how we escape from the problems we face in everyday life. The fact that only now the government is renovating the housing commissions and other areas speaks to their arrogance and greed. This image represents the feelings of anger and injustice of the youth living in Parisian ghettos.
