Happy/sad city. By Evan VIALA & Vladik BLANC-BRUDE

Festive fun

Melancholic mood

The first picture, of the Color Me Rad event, was taken on the 4^th of October 2015 in Clermont, in the Place de Jaude, from the middle of the crowd. It is a 5 km charity run followed by a concert. The runners and spectators throw coloured powders at each other. Here, there's a lot of colours like pink, blue, green and yellow!

We took the second picture on the 24^th of September 2015 during our holidays in Paris. It is the “Rue des Chantres” it’s a street of “L’île de la Cité”, in the center of Paris, in the 4^th district. We added a black and white filter to make the picture look “old” and to emphasize the feeling of solitude.

For the first picture, there was a lot of music by Adrien Thomas, a famous DJ. During the event, the weather was hot and dry, we could feel the chalk. During the event, I felt happy because there was good music and particularly because I was with my best friend.

For the second picture, it was a sunny and warm day but there was a bit of cooling wind which made the moment nice and relaxing. Despite that, it felt very curious because there was nobody there though we were in the middle of Paris, maybe because of the distance from the main roads and the lack of security. 

The first picture is of a happy crowd scene with crazy people laughing and dancing and having fun together. Everyone is looking in the same direction. Most are wearing sun glasses and colourful tee-shirts. This picture reflects my mood at the time I took it because this picture represents joy and being in a good mood.

The second picture is dark and rather sad. This silent narrow street is lined with flats. The shutters are closed; you feel lonely here, unwelcome and lost. In front of the balcony, there is emptiness, darkness. It is a melancholy atmosphere.

For the first picture, I gave it the title: Festive fun; I have chosen this title because this picture represents the festive side of the city.

For the second picture, I gave it the title: Melancholic mood; I have chosen this title because this picture represents the feeling of loneliness as well as isolation of the dark side of the city.

Color me Rad, a five kilometre “paint race” (a craze everywhere in the world), is an event that has no winners or prizes, but runners are showered with colored powder, made of food-grade corn starch, at stations along the run.

The second picture represents the “Rue des Chantres”. We can see in the background the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral with its bell tower. The construction of the cathedral, which was launched under the leadership of Bishop Maurice de Sully, spread over more than two centuries, from 1163 to the mid-fourteenth century.

For us, the important elements of the first picture are to see people enjoying themselves with their friends or families, we can see on their faces their joy. The second picture gives you the feeling you get when your friends have let you down…

I have chosen to take as a common title Happy/sad city because it is about the contrast between, on the one side, the lively city which is characterized by fun and color, and on the other side, the abandoned city which is characterized by the dark side and melancholy of the place.

The first picture represents the side of the city with a lot of events and the second picture represents the side of the city which is unknown and mysterious with shadows.

The pictures together say we don’t know the whole city; some places are anonymous and secret and others beautiful and popular.