Portraits de familles

Since its creation in 2018, the Institut pour la photographie has been committed to supporting artists through its research and creation support program. By opening up spaces for exchange and experimentation, it assists photographers in developing their projects and promoting their work.
It is within this framework that Julien Pitinome has been conducting a long-term project since 2023 on the tradition of family portraits, which is tending to disappear in the age of digital dematerialization.

Drawing on his experience in the social sector, he photographs families in a studio set up in a public space in order to create contemporary portraits of the inhabitants of the Hauts-de-France region in all their diversity.
Developed in two parts, this project takes the form of a dual territorial anchorage.

• At La Pouponnière in Lille, his approach gives rise to an initial presentation as part of the group exhibition La Récolte.
  Following a call for participation issued to residents of the Wazemmes and Moulins neighborhoods, he is presenting a series of portraits that question family identities and collective memory. This first exhibition will be on display until June 14, 2025.

Série Portraits de familles, quartier Wazemmes et Moulins,  2024-2025. ©  Julien Pitinome

• In the Ternois Community of Municipalities, the second phase of the project presented by TernoisCom in partnership with the Hauts-de-France Institute for Photography, carried out in the summer and fall of 2024, is part of a traveling artist residency program and will result in an exhibition from May 22 to September 21, 2025. Several families and communities agreed to pose for Julien Pitinome’s camera, following the same protocol, with objects of their choice. The photographs, taken in Auxi-le-Château, Fortel-en-Artois, Heuchin, Nœux-Lès-Auxi, and Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, are exhibited outdoors in each of these municipalities.
  Alongside the prints on display, a film directed by Arto Vittori and Julien Pitinome presents a behind-the-scenes look at this residency. It will be screened at the Tiers-Lieu in Auxi-le-Château from May 22 to September 21, 2025.

Série Portraits de familles, Ternois,  2024. ©  Julien Pitinome