Then and now. By Etienne BUTIN & Juliette MAGNIER

To be honest, when we went out on Sunday 22^nd February to take photos for our project, we had no ideas at all! When we arrived at Jaude Square, we started walking about, looking for a terrific idea. And it came to us when we walked past the merry-go-round, in the middle of the square. Suddenly, amazing childhood memories popped into our minds. Juliette, with her nostalgic side, yelled "Wow! When I was a kid, I used to love going on the merry-go-round! It was so much fun!" Etienne, as usual, was complaining because he was thirsty and cold (poor him). And that's it, we had our idea: how we see our city today and how that contrasts with how we used to see it as children. 

First picture: We took this photo in the center of Jaude. The photo pictures a merry-go-round. We wanted it to represent the city seen through the eyes of a child, so we took a very low-angle shot. Plus, only the merry-go-round is colored, the rest of the picture is deliberately in black-and-white. We also focused on the merry-go-round, so that the background is a little bit blurred. Furthermore, the merry-go-round is a vintage model, which emphasizes the 'old' side.

The merry-go round is the main element in this picture, everything is focused on it. It is an important symbol of our youth, which brings back great memories. We used to go to the merry-go-round very often when we were both children, and we loved it. That means a lot to us, even if now it's no longer part of our lives.

Second picture: This is a picture of a clothes shop (H&M) in the mall 'Carré Jaude'. It is taken from the inside, from the stairs, from a high angle. We can see a lot of women's clothes, all over the shop, as well as two models right in the center. The scene is quite colorful: the clothes are very flashy and look like color patches on a white background. There are very trendy clothes in this shop, that's why it is very well-appreciated by teenagers.

The elements we wanted to show are of course the clothes, which are the reason why we go downtown today. Shopping is the only thing we do when we go to Jaude Square. It has become like a hobby, the same way the merry-go-round used to be.

Contrasts between the two pictures:

The first contrast is the framing: the first photo is a low-angle shot whereas the second one is a high-angle shot. That shows how we used to see the world that surrounded us, and how we see it now. When you're a kid, you see everything from a low level, and everything looks huge and important to your eyes. When you're no longer a kid, you overlook the world, and everything looks smaller and less important. Therefore, physically and technically, there is a huge contrast between the two pictures.

The second contrast is evidently the subject: as we grew up, our interests have changed. Before, the only thing that counted, when we went to town, was having fun; whereas now, we only go there for shopping. Therefore, those pictures represent and contrast two phases of our lives, which occur in the same place though.

The colors also make the contrast: in the first picture, only the merry-go-round is colored, while the rest is in black-and-white and is a little bit blurred. That is a way to show that, as a kid, you only see what attracts you, and you see it in colors, like a dream. Childhood is (should be) worry-free, full of colors. The second picture is less contrasted, because as teenagers we don't attach as much importance to things around us as kids do.

Jaude Square is a busy part of the urban landscape; there are attractions for kids such as the merry-go-round, but there are also shops for teenagers and adult. We have realized that we live in a great city, we loved it as children, and now we love it as teenagers!