Chambre 207

A photography project in the vein of autofiction, Chambre 207 is based on the reconstruction of memories lost as a result of childhood trauma.

On August 5, 1983, while stopping for the night with his family on their way to vacation, Jean-Michel André’s father was murdered along with six other people at a hotel in Avignon. The case was never fully solved, but the investigation did reveal a motive: an attempted robbery carried out by criminals “ lacking scope "which turned into a bloodbath. However, the circumstances surrounding the massacre remain unclear."

at the age of 7, while in a room adjacent to his father’s at the time of the events, the photographer, in a state of shock, lost his memory. Forty years later, by revisiting and photographing the places he had—or might have—visited with his father, and by interweaving elements of the investigation, press archives, and family mementos, he decided to create a collection that explores memory, grief, and healing.

How can we make abstract concepts tangible and share the intimate in order to touch upon a form of the universal? Jean-Michel André’s approach eschews pathos and spectacle and explores the limits of the image: what can be shown, how, why, and for whom? The medium of photography becomes a healing tool; the work takes shape and becomes the sole driving force.

The exhibition, conceived as a visual essay, is as much a reenactment as it is a reconstruction. Through its poetry, it transports us to an anachronistic timeline, blending the future and the past of that night of August 5, 1983, and reveals a quest for truth that, little by little, transforms into liberation.

↘︎ During your visit: Check out the an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand visitor guide

↘︎ Curating: Anne Lacoste, Director of the Institut pour la photographie

↘︎ Acknowledgments and mentions: Exhibition co-produced with the Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse in Lille and the Mediterranean Center for Photography in Bastia. Photographic project carried out with the support of the National Center for Visual Arts, the Hauts-de-France Region, and the Mediterranean Center for Photography in Bastia. This exhibition will be presented at the Mediterranean Center for Photography in Corsica in the fall of 2025.

↘︎ Publication: Chambre 207  it also led to a book, which won the Nadar Prize; it was published by Éditions Actes Sud in early October 2024.