Back to Nature, a bit... By Lucie LÊME & Holy RALAITSIZAFY

 

Sunny weather makes people happy!

Gloomy weather makes people sad...

           

The photos were taken in the "Jardin Lecoq", the biggest botanical garden in Clermont-Ferrand. It is a place where you can relax and get away from the traffic, the noise and the pollution. The first photo was taken in September; the temperature was about 30°C! The second was taken in December during the Christmas holidays but it felt like autumn. We took these two photos because we wanted to show how seasons influence people's moods, even in the city.

In the first photo, in the background and around us, there are amazing and impressive trees and extraordinary flowers, and a duck pond with a fountain. We heard sounds which are typical in most cities when it is summer: birds singing, cars, kids playing with their parents or their friends. We could also hear the tram and the splash and hiss of the fountain.

In this photo, we were larking about because we wanted to show what people are like when it is summer. Most of the people are smiling to each other because they are happy, friendly, sociable and a little bit crazy, a bit like us! We were happy, laughed a lot and did a lot of silly faces. For once, there was no wind, no rain; it was simply a very sunny day in September. We could smell the many kinds of flowers. We almost forgot we were in the city...

In the second photo, in the background, we can see that all the trees have lost their leaves. The fountain is still working even though it is winter. Around us, some of the bushes have kept their leaves. We heard cars, the water from the fountain, but we didn't hear kids playing or laughing. We heard a baby who cried a lot. The December wind was blowing quite hard, there was also a bit of rain; the weather was gloomy. The smells were very different: we smelt the rain, the tarmac too because of the rain, and the car exhaust fumes. We were reminded that we were in a city, unlike on the day in September when we took the first photo. The flowers and trees had become insignificant. We put a black and white effect in this photo because we wanted to show the sadness of winter, and it shows the disappointment of the people. We felt happy to see each other, but we were very tired because of the weather.

Most public places in cities (shopping malls, offices, restaurants, etc.) now have temperature-controlled environments (the temperatures are always the same). They also have rather boring lighting “ambiances”. Does this influence people's emotions and behaviour, making us more calm and conformist? Our photos remind us that in a public garden at least you can “get back to Nature” a little; the seasons still exist there and they do affect our moods, good or bad.