Northwest Region
“Our portraits through Foujita”.
From October 2022 to March 2023, as part of their socio-cultural training, 15 12th grade students in Landscaping program high school diploma at the Notre-Dame des Jardins high school of Apprentis d’Auteuil at Château des Vaux in La Loupe (28), took part in Our portraits through Foujita. A workshop led by graphic photographer Didier Leplat.
Project supported by the Fondation Foujita.
For this 2nd edition, the project team wanted to focus the students’ reflections and productions on Foujita. An opportunity to introduce them to this major artist of the Ecole de Paris, and with him, to make them more aware of the image they have of themselves and the one they may project.
Study a work to make it your own
Once the project and the range of works had been presented, groups were formed and the 4 themes identified:self-portraiture,childhood, wives and religion.
The groups studied their reference work in detail: the composition, from luminosity to lines, including what is shown (setting, objects, protagonists, motifs), the symbols represented, the colors, the emotions emanating from it, etc. Then they thought about their production: the role and place of each person in the photo, the search for props, the selection of locations for the shoot. Once this preparatory work had been completed, it was time to start shooting, with the help of Didier Leplat!
Highly committed to the project, the young people played along, and some even called on their friends and family to provide accessories.
The young people also put their ideas down on paper, with theexercise of writing an explanatory label.
Personal and professional enrichment
As the workshop was part of the MG1 module required to validate their diploma, the young people concluded it with an individual oral presentation, during which they explained the different stages of creation, their involvement and their feelings about the project.
These creative moments were a source of stimulation: they discovered, searched, learned, collaborated and persevered until they obtained the desired shot.
The students developed their creativity, imagination and independence .Our Portraits through Foujita was also an opportunity for the students to open up to Japanese culture through the artist and his works, and to gain self-confidence by producing a collective photographic creation.
