The haves and have-nots. By Ilham AMJOD and Naïla DALI

Clermont-Ferrand is a city of contrasts, especially regarding its architecture. Our two photos prove it.

The first photo was taken in the historic centre of Clermont-Ferrand, in the Michel de l’Hospital square. It shows 19^th century bourgeois apartment buildings that are handsome, not very tall, welcoming. The flats are probably quite big. Their balconies are tastefully decorated and the windows are pretty impressive. The people who live there can afford to pay expensive flats.

The second photo was taken in the Saint-Jacques district where there are several, identical, high-rise blocks of low-cost council flats. These are tall and white. In the foreground there are a few little trees. The windows are extremely small, like those of a prison. The inhabitants do not have much living space.

In Clermont-Ferrand, as in most cities, there are wealthy areas and poor areas, and the type of housing reflects that very clearly.

Now and then. By Valentin ANDRIEUX et Gaspard GOUT

The first photo was taken on Sunday 25th of January 2015 and it's an interior view of the Saint Joseph covered market (close to Massillon) at nightfall. It was cold and there was nobody there other than in the restaurants around the square. Built in 1892 by the André Michelin workshop, this building is rectangular, the walls are brick and, from half-way up, glass. There is a large central skylight.

The second photo was taken at the Centre Jaude2 on Saturday 24th of January 2015. The sun is shining on the building. There was a light breeze and it's the middle of the day so the city center is busy. This place always smells of cigarettes and food. The building is very modern with an enormous bay window. Most of the time there are lots of people walking around; dwarfed by the building. On the left, there is a restaurant, while on the right, there is a children's carousel. In the middle, there is a fountain, and there is an apartment block in the background. This photograph shows that the city centre is an important place. It shows the “good side” of Clermont because it's a really modern building and a useful centre for trade. I took the picture in black and white to give it a little sad atmosphere.

These photos remind us of the good times we've spent in these places, and they also make us see how interesting these buildings are. I personally think the old building, though underused today, is actually nicer than the garish modern one.

City life is in the details… By Alix-Marie DARDEN

I took the first photo from my apartment window during the first week of the winter holidays. It was a rainy day and the light was not really good but this brings out the lugubrious atmosphere! We can see a wall which is not really useful. It is just in front of my bedroom so I do not have a great view. Next to it, there is a really dark volcanic stone wall. This part of the building used to be the rooms of the staff when the house was a large aristocratic residence.

I took the second picture in my living room which is the most comfortable place of my apartment. I don’t know if this is the original moulding, because the building had to be renovated. The lamp was decorated by my mum. I love the floral patterns of the ceiling and the coloured flowers of the lamp and the light.

The most important place of a town is actually where each individual has his home. How you experience the urban environment in general is going to be somewhat conditioned by that private space… 

The challenge of greening Clermont... By Astrid PEZERON DUBOIS & Nikita GELLET

In the first photo, we can see the famous Jardin Lecoq (famous in our city at least!). It was created in 1780 by the well-named Abbé Delarbre. It is named after Henri Lecoq, a famous botanist from Clermont-Ferrand.

The photo shows us that within the city centre it is possible to find a green area; the lawns, fountains, many trees and glorious flower beds, shows us that the city of Clermont-Ferrand values the environment. There are even ducks and swans in the biggest pond. It is a big, peaceful and safe, place in the hustle and bustle of this city. The garden is nice for people of all ages: young children can have fun in the playgrounds, and people can sit, talk and daydream at the garden café. The students from the faculties opposite often lounge about here.

The second picture, showing the gate of one of the Michelin factories, shows that the city also has an industrial side. Michelin, a multinational company, has its headquarters in, and it is the main economic pillar of, the city. 12,000 Clermontois are employed in its factories and offices. Numerous street names and monuments remind us of the importance of this family business.

“Greening” a city is difficult; the Jardin Lecoq obviously contributes to the sustainable development of Clermont, but the few Michelin plants still within the city inevitably pollute. However, the city’s international renown comes from its industry, not from its parks...

Nature is bigger than ourselves... By Marie HAMON & Baptiste JOIRE

The top photo was taken on 15th January 2015 near Martroise lake, next to Les Martres-de-Veyre in the Auvergne. When we took the picture, about 8am, we only heard birds. This magnificent blue, pink and orange sunrise left us speechless. We felt Nature awake, the fresh breeze in our hair. Marie used to play on the little hill you can see silhouetted in the centre of the picture. When she was five years old, Marie’s elder sister threw her into this pond. She couldn't swim very well and her mother screamed in panic. Her father saved her...

I took the picture of this frightening storm from my bedroom window on 29th September 2014. I live in Trémonteix, a neighbourhood of Clermont-Ferrand. It was cold outside. A wet dog odour came up from the street. The only lights are from the neighbours’ home and from the lightning bolts. The difference between background and foreground is not clearly defined. I think this is the best shot I have ever taken!

These photos, where light and dark is the subject, evoke Clermont-Ferrand and its surrounding area. They show that Nature can be both destructive and beautiful and, though we live in an urban environment, is always present.

Hidden potential… By Antonin LAUPRETRE

I took these photos on the 22nd of February.

The first photo is the view from Chateauguay at nightfall. It was cold and dry, which is not unpleasant. There are silhouettes of trees in the foreground, lights in the background. The lower part of the photo is a deep black. The light is from Clermont-Ferrand, in particular from the industrial area of Ladoux; it diffuses slightly into a fine mist present on the surface of the Limagne plain. This industrial area is dominated by the Michelin buildings and the Michelin test track.

In the second photo, you see the Urbalad building under construction. It’s impressive by its size and the fact that it passes over the high-speed track. It will accommodate 1,600 workstations!

These photos show that Clermont is, contrary to what many people think, a city that has big potential. It's true that, at first glance, the dark-stoned city appears defunct, but this is a misconception. Working in Clermont is a good thing because it is in fact very modern and you have the advantage of being close to the countryside.

Modernizing Clermont-Ferrand. By François SUAREZ & Dana HUSSEIN ASSAN

I took these pictures late morning. It was about 10°C and cloudy. There was the noise of cars and of the tram which stops opposite the shopping center, Rue Gonod. It was very calm and there were few people because it was during the holidays.

The first picture shows an old, dirty-looking, building in Rue Bonnabaud near Place de Jaude. There are only three floors. It is situated near the city center so it is well-situated. I can imagine the dark and dilapidated flats within.

The second photo shows the very attractive modern frontage of the Carré Jaude2, a shopping center completed at the end of 2013. Lots of people visit its fifty shops every day. Carré Jaude2 is 13,330m². There are shops, a very big cinema, a 4-star hotel, offices, and 320 flats.

These two places are situated very close to one another but they are very different. They date from different periods: a relatively old, modest, brick building to house people with modest means near the city center at a time when the urban environment was much smaller and there were few cars, and a very recent building to meet the needs of shoppers who come from the outskirts of the city for the most part (they use public transport or park their cars in the underground car parks) and wealthy residents.

The contrasts are glaring: small versus big, old versus new, redundant versus dynamic, poor versus rich, ugly versus attractive. The only thing these buildings have in common is that they are in the same area of the city; how long before the rest of the older parts of the city center are at last destroyed?

As I gaze upon the sea... By Axelle PERCIE du SERT

I spent my holidays in the most fabulous region of the world! I took these two pictures in Quiberon in Breizh on February 17^th during my holidays. This beautiful location was a simple fishing village and it has become a busy tourist destination. 

The first picture was taken at the seaside when the sun was setting. There was hardly any wind. In the foreground we can see the sea. Little waves are lapping the rocks. There’s pebbles and a little further off a bit of sand. In the background: houses, small buildings and hotels on the waterfront which make up part of the city. I could watch this landscape for hours.

The second picture is of a pleasant square in the city. It’s winter so there aren't lots of people because, though it is very sunny, it’s a bit cold. In the summer holidays, all the town squares of course have a lot of people. In the foreground, there are tables and chairs with folded sunshades in front of restaurants. There are little shops in the background. It is a place for tourists who want to take advantage of the sun and the sea in summer.

These two pictures show two different environments nevertheless situated in the same place. The first is the landscape around all the built-up area, the second is a square within the town. The two pictures are fairly representative of the not-so-little town in which there are very few ugly concrete buildings. There is hardly any pollution here.

Quiberon is a good example of urbanization. Amenities were set up to improve the living conditions of the tourists and inhabitants and to take better advantage of the seashore as a tourist attraction. The urban area has spread but has been made attractive to attract tourists in summer. Many small businesses have been set up to cater for them (hotels, cafés, shops, etc. The sea is an indirect source of profit...

But are all these improvements really necessary? Sure, Quiberon is a nice place now with all modern comforts, but the urban lifestyle does produce a lot of waste and pollution which inevitably has a cost and an effect on the natural landscape on which the local economy ultimately depends. In our efforts to modernize, we should not forget the simple joy of a seaside sunset, the beautiful waves crashing onto the rocks…

Pedestrian shopping... By Célia LAMBEL, Clarisse COMBRONDE & Nina FABRE

The first photo was taken Place de Jaude, just in front of the Galeries Lafayette on the 14th February at about 6pm. We could smell crepes and hear music coming from the two kiosks on the square. The sky was already dark, the lights were on and there were still people walking around. It was getting cold and there was humidity in the air because of the light rain falling. Even if the weather was not great, it was nice walking around.

The second photo was taken in Aubière, near Clermont-Ferrand, on the 15th February 2015 at about 4pm. We were facing the Carré Sud mall and there was a lot of traffic noise. We could smell exhaust fumes from the numerous cars passing by. It was a bit windy and the sky was really dark because of the rainy clouds. The weather was very bad but luckily it wasn't raining yet. The temperature was pretty cold, about 8°C. We didn't feel like staying there any longer.

The first photo shows the Galeries Lafayette. The four-storied building is impressive. On the ground floor we can see the light coming from the store windows and from the inside through the glass doors of the store. It is winter time and there are no more leaves on the trees. On the right the red parasol is shut. The lighting emphasizes the contours and details of the building.The store was built by the architects Léon and Marcel Lamaizière in 1906-1907. Built on the Parisian model, the building contains a metallic skeleton masked by an envelope of white ashlar, with large bow-windows bays on two levels. The glass is the original glass. In Beaux-Arts style, the building takes its inspiration from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It used to be called Nouvelles Galeries. I often go shopping there with my mother or my friends. It reminds me of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. It is the chic department store of central Clermont-Ferrand. They sell different kinds of products: clothes, make-up, jewelry, etc. It is part of a department store chain.

The building in the second photo is long, covered in wood panels, with several shops. It has large windows and a grey roof. In the foreground there is a big and empty car park. There are two naked trees. There are a few cars in the car park but not as many as we’d expect in such a busy place.This shopping mall is one of the most recent. The architecture is pretty nice and modern. I often stop there because it is on my way to the library.

In the first picture, we can see an old white building, and in the second a brand new mall made of wood with panoramic windows. The two pictures perfectly illustrate two ways of doing the same thing (shopping) within a city: walking around in the upmarket pedestrians-only downtown, and going to the mall on the outskirts of the city. Before, people used to walk to the shopping district, it was a place where you met people (it still is). Now the cities are spreading, more and more shopping malls are opening right outside of the city. You must use your car to go there. We think malls are cold and impersonal.

A National Park near Marseille. By Esperance PELLISSIER de FELIGONDE

I come from Marseille. I left this city last year. I took these photos in April 2014 while sightseeing with my penfriend. We climbed one of the highest hills of the region. From 'Marseilleveyre', you have one of the most beautiful views of Marseille and the Mediterranean coast. The photos were both taken from the same place. I just had to turn round to take the second photo. But the view is very different; it contrasts a lot with the first one.

On photo number one, you can see the huge city which is Marseille. It was so windy that day that I couldn't hear anything but the wind blowing. This wind is called the 'Mistral'. My hair was a mess! It was very hot and I could smell the Mediterranean Sea air. It was gorgeous! In the second photo you can see some islands.

Ninety per cent of the National Park we were in is in the sea and ten percent is near to the city.

At the bottom you can see a heap of limestone. On the left, the sea and a marina. In the middle of the picture, the ‘Prado’ beaches and next to them, on the right, the racetrack. Spreading into the distance is the city. In the background, on the right, we can see a small mountain range. The blue sky dominates the scene. There are clouds which look like a dove. It's amazing! In picture two, you can see the ‘Marseilleveyre’ in the foreground. Then, in the middle of the photo, there’s the Mediterranean and two small islands. At the top of the photo, are the horizon and the sky.

The first photo shows essentially the central part of Marseille. This part of the town has a great significance for me because I lived there for many years. This part of the city is full of souvenirs. On the left we can see the ‘Port de la Pointe Rouge’. This port is situated next to my former house. On the right hand corner, there's the ‘Velodrome’ stadium; this place is a mythical place because it is where you can attend football matches and see the ‘Olympique de Marseille’. In the background, you can also see the only skyscraper of Marseille. This building (tower CMA CGM) is the head office of the third largest container shipping group in the world and is number one in France. The second photo illustrates the ‘Massif des Calanques’ with two of its islands, called ‘Plate’ island and ‘Riou’ island, which are uninhabited, situated in the south of Marseille. 'Riou' constitutes the southern extremity of the Marseille region. They are both part of the 'Riou' archipelago. In 2012, 'Riou' integrated the ‘Calanques’ National Park. It is administrated by the National Park.

The pictures show opposites: the metropolis, big and overcrowded, and the sea, source of freedom and space...

The photos say that two different worlds coexist. When you have the chance to live in a big city situated beside the sea, you can at the same time have the benefits of the city and the benefits of the seaside. The urban environment here is confined but the sea is a source of freedom.

One of these photos gives me positive feelings, the one which represents the proximity of Nature. You feel free when you watch it. I can't say that the second one makes me feel negative but the photo shows a city which is very crowded and makes me feel  less free.

The National Park was set up for nature conservation, but it is also an amenity space for the people of the city which is really necessary when you think of the social tensions of Marseille...

4th world. By Léa GOIGOUX & Axelle HABAY

The first photo was taken on February 15^th in Dubaï in the United Arab Emirates. It was at the Marina of Dubaï, in a rich neighbourhood. It is in the centre of Dubai; all around are typical buildings of this city: very large, to accommodate many people. The berthed boats belong to the city or to individuals. It was about 6pm and it was still very hot, even if there isn't as much sun at this time of the afternoon. We could hear the birds singing, some people who were running or chatting and sometimes something fell in the sea. It was quite calm. Everything around me was very tall and really impressive. We could smell the sea and the atmosphere was heavy, there wasn't any wind.

The second picture was taken on February 17^th also in Dubaï. It was at the Deira souk, a market in the centre of Dubai, in a quite poor neighbourhood. We see small buildings. There is also scaffolding and a construction site (a wheelbarrow, planks). There is a man dressed traditionally, he throws his garbage and, in the background, there is a café. It was about 2pm and it was a sunny day. The temperature was around 30°C. We could hear people shouting, tourists taking pictures and carts which rolled up. Everybody was quite agitated. It was a very colourful place with people who were trying to sell a lot of different things to tourists. We could smell so many different things but essentially the smell of food.

In the first picture, we see beautiful, large, boats and tall, new, buildings, which show the rich side of Dubai. In the second image, we see an old man in flip-flops looking rummaging through trash in a neighbourhood with old, very modest, buildings. This shows the poverty of some neighbourhoods of Dubai.

Though only a few kilometres from each other, these two neighbourhoods are very different regarding their populations, architecture and standards of living. The first photo shows a wealthy neighbourhood where residents own boats and large buildings. While in the second picture, there is a small café, workers and modest buildings. It was taken in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, where the bins are very close to the houses. When we look at these two photos, one might think that this is not the same city or even not the same country. But this is the reality of Dubai.

For me, these photos show that within a same city, there are so many different neighbourhoods. In these neighbourhoods, people group together according to their origin. People also group together according to their social class and their level of wealth; we can see that, in the second picture, the environment is poorer than in the first one. These photos reveal that some neighbourhoods are older than others. We can see that the first picture was clearly taken in a more recent place than the second one. Because of this contrast, different activities are practised according to the age of the place.

For me, these photos show the inequality between two parts of the same town. On the one hand, everybody can see that people don't really have good life, the streets are quite dirty and seem to be perpetually under construction. And, on the other hand, there are people who have so much more than what they really need to live correctly, like yachts, for example. As I said in the previous paragraph, closed communities are also very present and I don't think that it is a good thing for social organization. In spite of these aspects that I find absolutely negative, I have to say that these two landscapes are quite impressive. In the first one, the buildings are really high and the space is well-built. In the second one, it's very interesting to visit a neighbourhood which is not perfect, nore has it changed for years. These two landscapes show the differences which exist between two neighbourhood within a same city.

Buildings of biblical proportions... By Clément ARGAILLOT & Guillaume ANDRIEUX

I took the first photo on the 22nd February, at 5 pm, in Clermont-Ferrand in a district called Les Pistes (this name is due to the numerous factories there). It was a Sunday evening, so the streets were deserted. The day wasn't too cold. The building was a Michelin factory 25 years ago; it is easily recognizable because of its architecture. Michelin is an enterprise based in Clermont-Ferrand which has been making tires since the 19th century. This is a large industrial building with grey walls made of concrete which have become dirty over the years because of the pollution. There are old narrow windows which don't let much light enter. It is closed to the public and is disused; I wouldn't like to be inside when night falls!

I took the second photo in Clermont-Ferrand too, on Wednesday 14th of February. My family and I were in our car because we were going to the ski resort Le Lioran for three days. When we passed in front of this stadium, I asked my parents to stop the car in order to take a photo. The weather was fabulous: the sun was shining and the temperature was about 20°C! I photographed this place at the end of the morning, around 11am, on the square in front of the building. It is the Marcel Michelin stadium seen from the outside. The original stadium was built in 1911. Today, it seats more than 18,000 people for each match of the ASM, our famous rugby team. The stadium was built by Marcel Michelin, the head of the firm at the time. We feel very small when we visit this place which is very impressive. You can see the ASM shop where you can buy their goodies. It’s in this stadium that the ASM has won many victories. The “Bib Park” (one of it names, because of Bibendum, the mascot of Michelin) is considered as the most difficult stadium in Europe to “conquer”, and the supporters are among the most respectful. I saw a match there some time ago; it is a great memory. For me, this stadium symbolizes modernity and the influence of Clermont-Ferrand, of its inhabitants, and of it sports. "We play at home" is a sentence that any Clermontois is pleased to hear.

These two buildings are situated less than 150m from each other. They were built by the same company. These photos symbolize yesterday (the silence of the old factory) and today (the noisy stadium from which I can hear the thousands of supporters from my home during matches) and show the importance of Michelin, the firm that developed Clermont-Ferrand, present in the urban landscape and in the lives of the citizens.

Winter ghosts. By Aurélie BERTHAUD & Blandine LOCHU

The first picture was taken in the Place Mazet in Clermont-Ferrand on the 20th of February this year. The second photograph was taken near the Hôtel de Ville on the same day.

In the first picture, we see a small square which is a little sad and very empty. Only the red facade of this restaurant gave some joy to the area. We could hear the wind blowing through our hair and the sound of the cars just a few blocks away. This restaurant was closed for some reason; no tasty smells came wafting out from within... We appreciated the calm and sense of freedom as there was nobody there.

In the second photo, we could hear traffic, people's laughs and the sound of a fountain. We could smell a little bit the pollution mixed with the perfume of flowers. We could feel a fresh wind, and the temperature was quite warm for a winter month.

For the restaurant picture, in the foreground, we can see a short stretch of sidewalk. On the right, there is a tree which has lost its leaves. L'adresse has several large windows. It seems to be a special place. The restaurant is under a building with white shutters. 

In the middle of the black and white photograph is a lamppost. In the background, we can notice some roofs. There are tree branches behind the streetlight.

The first picture has a lot of significance for us. First, we enjoy going to little restaurants where the food is usually simple but very nice. Moreover, the name caught our attention: it is simple but unusual and very well found! As it is a very colourful building, it is different from the other ones in the square. It is very inviting. The others are very sad and depressing.

The second picture reminds us of our childhood, because we used to play under the lampposts in this square and imagined ourselves in a Harry Potter movie. We chose to take the photograph in black and white to give it an appropriately nostalgic atmosphere.

Both pictures capture the peace of Clermont. Admittedly, it is sometimes too calm (like the closed restaurant) and there’s not enough to do (ours is not a city where important things happen). But, we actually enjoy the peace because when you are calm you can daydream…

All the lonely people. By Simon MERCIER and Thibault RIVIERE

I took the top photograph on 11th January 2015 in the city center of Clermont-Ferrand during the solidarity march after the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. The big crowd is calm and sad. The photo only shows about a third of the people that were present. There are two French flags and several “Je suis Charlie” placards. It’s cold. In the background there are old and new buildings. There are little restaurants. One placard shows our local hero Vercingetorix, a symbol of resistance and freedom, carrying a big pen rather than a sword. This picture shows us that the French were united over this terrible event.

I took the second photograph on the 25th February 2015 in Rue Notre Dame du Port next to the basilica Notre Dame du Port. When I took this photo it was 8°C, cloudy and raining a bit. It was as quiet as usual. There are rarely any people or cars here. I live in this street. There’s a small place. We see two houses with three floors. One of them has a frontage, it was a shop. The other one is a bit bigger. They are quite dirty. The big wall in the foreground is dilapidated with a lot of cracks. The shutters are really dirty. There is a beautiful wall lamp.

There is an obvious contrast between the two photos: one shows a crowd, the other is empty of people. What is the same though is the cold and rainy weather, the uninteresting urban environment, and the sad atmosphere. The first photo shows a sad, fearful crowd, and the other tells of solitude. There is hope though in the first photo; in Clermont-Ferrand there were more than 70,000 “Charlies” (in Lille and Marseille, much bigger cities, there were only 30,000).

Even if, in Clermont-Ferrand, you can sometimes feel lonely and bored because there is not much to do (the first photo shows this rather well), when something goes wrong in our society, the inhabitants do come out on to the streets so as to make their voices heard…

The writing on the wall. By Margot VEST & Louise VIGOUROUX

The close-up photo was taken in a little street called Rue de l’Arcade next to Ballainvilliers in Clermont-Ferrand. There is a white poster on which is drawn an orange pen. Under this poster we can see a piece of another poster, with strange black and white drawings. These posters have been stuck on an old, rusty, metal door. A corner of the topmost poster has been torn and the bottom has become unstuck. The orange pen is like a child’s drawing. There are cigarette ends on the paving stones.

The second photo was taken at one end of Rue de l’Arcade, a pokey alley that feels a little strange and even cut-throat… It is only about 30 meters long. It obviously gets its name from the arch holding up the old house built above it that overhangs half the street. There is a drainpipe on the left with torn pieces of paper on it. The trash cans are overflowing with boxes and yellow refuse bags. The walls have been damaged by time and the weather. There is a narrow pavement on the right. The houses at the far end on either side do not seem abandoned. Beyond the “tunnel”, we can see a wide road with a few parked cars. There’s a big, handsome, dark-stoned building with, in front, a blue lamppost and a small tree. A man is walking past.

The orange pen on the cryptic poster refers to the horrible attack that happened at the Charlie Hebdo office in January 2015 in Paris. The pen symbolizes freedom of expression. We have seen a lot of posters on this theme in our town (perhaps because someone from Clermont, visiting the Charlie Hebdo offices, was killed in the terrorist attack). The message for our times of this colorful picture was all the more powerful for being hidden in this sordid corner. For us, the street symbolized the ignorant past, the poster a beacon of hope emerging from the obscurity.

Our photos inspire two thoughts. The first: the walls of our towns are used for scrawling ideas and feelings, both trivial and important, and to display images that comment events in the world. And the second: current events influence the way we see our urban environment.

Lines and curves. By Jeanne BRIEU and Clémence POTIN

We took this photo of administrative buildings in Vercingetorix Avenue, Clermont-Ferrand, on 25 February. It was a sad day. There were few people on the streets. It was cold, but not too much. The rain made the avenue shine. We were reminded of a disaster movie set… The facade of the building is made of very dark grey, dirty, stone criss-crossed with lines. There’s a big, old, wooden door with two sizeable golden handles. There are small drawings, which are supposed to be decorative. Behind the impressive railings, there are more big buildings behind a courtyard that serves as a carpark. This is an unwelcoming place. For us, this picture shows the sad side of Clermont Ferrand. It is not a place tourists would find interesting.

We took the second photo in a small dark alley called Abbé Girard Street, in Clermont-Ferrand. We find this photo very pretty and cheerful. These "tiles" on the wall immediately aroused our curiosity, like a small fragment of joy in this unappealing location. The pattern is of yellow and orange flowers on a white background. Between each tile, there is an orange square. It's not the kind of thing we would have imagined finding in this street. Clermont has some happy hidden corners too...

Both pictures have brick-colour in them, but the two photos are very different: one is sad, the other jolly. The austere architecture in the first picture contrasts with the curvy flowers that soften the symmetry of the tiles in the second photo.

Clermont's architecture is mostly rather austere, but there are also pretty details. This undoubtedly reflects the various functions of the city (most administrative buildings are big, functional and self-important) and the character of its inhabitants too (someone wanted to make the street more liveable by putting up pretty tiles).

Old vs new. By Vincent MERCIER

A scary building

I took this picture on the 16th February 2015 in Clermont-Ferrand, at the Carmes near Michelin. This is a picture of an old building which is abandoned. There are some tags and old posters which are not white but grey because there are very old. The wall isn't the same colour everywhere. I noticed the smell of car exhaust fumes. It is always cold in this street because of the wind.

This is a very ordinary street. There is an old building which looks abandoned. There is a lot of graffiti, some good, most of it ugly. There are also posters which were stuck up six or seven years ago. The wall is very ugly grey and beige. The whitish-brown shutters are rotting. The sky is blue.

This picture shows that the city hasn’t been modernised everywhere. People could live here, but the local authorities haven’t done anything to redevelop the area.

A modern building

I took this picture of Centre Jaude2 on the same day as the other one. It shows a very modern building with an enormous bay window. The name of the building is written in big reds letters. Most of the time there are lots of people here. This place smells of cigarettes and food.

People are walking around; they look very small because the building is so big. There is an apartment block on the left. The walls are grey and brown and it looks very pretty. The only thing that spoils the picture is the pylon for the tramway (I approve of the tramway though because it has reduced the number of cars in the town centre). This photograph shows that the city centre is well developed. It also shows the good side of Clermont because it's a really modern building and a beautiful commercial centre.

The two areas shown in these photos are very different: one is often crowded and the other is rarely visited. Why is it that you can find ugly, old, abandoned buildings and, less than a kilometre away, there are beautiful, busy modern ones? 

Traces... By Antonin MARMOITON

I am fascinated by the history of where I live, but a little sad because its treasures are being forgotten…

I took these two pictures in Gimeau, the village next to mine, on 25/02/2015. It was cold, rainy and cloudy.

My village and all of the neighbouring villages are part of an area called ‘Brayaud’. Maupassant wrote his novel ‘Mont-Oriol’ here. He describes his time in ‘Enval’ (which was in reality Chatel Guyon, the ‘capital’ of my area).

These pictures are emblematic of my area: the Rozana source and an abandoned mansion. Water bottling is still an important activity here. From the 1890s to the 1960s, rich people came to live on our land and (thanks to the wealth generated from wine production) built big houses.

The two pictures offer a contrast: the colourful source symbolizing the past flowing into the present, versus bygone lives symbolized by the crumbling pile, in spooky black and white.

I think these two pictures show rather well the lost splendour of Brayaud country... They are also a reminder that a town (here, Chatel Guyon) should not be considered as totally separate from the rural environment which surrounds it! The big country houses that we have here are (were) the country residences of important people from the city, which goes to prove my point. Also, part of a town's wealth comes from (at least, used to come from) the countryside. 

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!