honorable mention
Francis Meslet france
Photo © Francis Meslet
title
House of the rising sun
Its organization is also inspired by a system called "panopticon", a translation of an ideological model designed in 1791 by the English philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham. This process allows an individual, housed in a central tower, to observe the prisoners locked up in the individual cells around the tower, without them being able to know if they are being observed.
Abandoned in 1956, the prison was sold to a private individual, who rented the cells as temporary storage. The prison has been listed in the inventory of historical monuments since 1975.
Like time capsules, testifying to a parallel world and perfect for enabling the mind to wander and ponder, Francis Meslet?s melancholic images brave the passage of time, making way for silence after the memories left behind by human inhabitation. In these deserted places, no more than the rustling of the wind can be heard through a broken window or the sound of water dripping from a dilapidated ceiling. These silences nonetheless invite the spectator to slip into these well-guarded and mysterious places captured by the photographer and attempt to bring to life that which has been forgotten.
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entry description
The circular prison was built in 1855-1856 in Autun (France) by the departmental architect André Berthier, with the architectural particularity of being one of the first to adopt the mode of cellular detention.Its organization is also inspired by a system called "panopticon", a translation of an ideological model designed in 1791 by the English philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham. This process allows an individual, housed in a central tower, to observe the prisoners locked up in the individual cells around the tower, without them being able to know if they are being observed.
Abandoned in 1956, the prison was sold to a private individual, who rented the cells as temporary storage. The prison has been listed in the inventory of historical monuments since 1975.
about the photographer
A graduate in Design from the École des Beaux-Arts de Nancy in 1986, early in his career Francis Meslet was a designer, but soon turned to advertising when he joined several advertising agencies as an artistic director. After 30 years spent questioning the creative concept and studying images in all his compositions, he is now a creative director. Francis Meslet wears several hats; he is notably a renowned photographer who does not hesitate to roam the world in his spare time, searching for abandoned sites, sanctuaries where time seems to have stopped after humans have evacuated them. He thus brings back captivating and melancholic images of his travels to the other side of the world.Like time capsules, testifying to a parallel world and perfect for enabling the mind to wander and ponder, Francis Meslet?s melancholic images brave the passage of time, making way for silence after the memories left behind by human inhabitation. In these deserted places, no more than the rustling of the wind can be heard through a broken window or the sound of water dripping from a dilapidated ceiling. These silences nonetheless invite the spectator to slip into these well-guarded and mysterious places captured by the photographer and attempt to bring to life that which has been forgotten.
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