Educational Resource - Réalités Données

The exhibition “Réalités données”, conceived in collaboration with the MAPS Agency, was produced as part of EN QUÊTE, the Institut pour la photographie’s second exhibition program, which ran from September 10 to October 30, 2020 (closed early due to public health conditions) at the Institut pour la photographie’s future location on Rue de Thionville in Lille.

The Institut pour la photographie invited the MAPS agency to carry out a project in the Hauts-de-France region. Founded in 2017 and based in Brussels, the international MAPS agency brings together photographers and creative professionals around collaborative projects that explore our ever-changing environment and societies. Six photographers—Elena Anosova, Matthieu Gafsou, Cédric Gerbehaye, Simona Ghizzoni, Christian Lutz, John Vink—and graphic designer Chiquinquira Garcia thus engaged with DATAS, regional statistical data, as the starting point for their exploration. Ultimately, these figures say little about the reality of a region or the lived experiences of its inhabitants. This paradox was deliberately chosen as the raw material to define the directions their projects would take.

Far from being scientifically exhaustive, the chosen topics reflect both the authors’ respective interests—which are part of a broader, long-term reflection—and societal issues rooted in current events: inclusion, tourism, rural life, immigration, agriculture, parenting, etc.