The Eyes of the Marais is a poetic reflection on the Marais neighbourhood in Paris. It consists of a serie of photographs and a text that were produced in 2016 while I was a resident at the Cité des Arts, which is located in the heart of the neighbourhood. The Marais is one of the richest neighbourhoods of the city, and is mostly inhabited by high-end fashion shops. It is in that sense very much a neighbourhood to see and to be seen.
Every building has several eyes.
Eyes have two directions. Inward and outward.
Eyes don’t consider it very polite to stare into them for a very long time, which is why most eyes only gaze out. It is therefor often a little bit difficult to figure out how the world looks like inside an eye.
Some eyes even wear special items to protect their inner world, like curtains, or blinds or mirrored glass.
In the Marais however, most eyes want you to look into them. They even make a big effort out it. These eyes wear make-up, in the shape of beautiful items, clothing, jewellery. They flirt with their wonderful colours, their nice painted window frames. (Excerpt)
You can view the whole publication here
