Ce décembre dernier, après avoir visité l'exposition Vivian Maier au musée du Luxembourg, la classe des TG1 a pris part à un concours d'écriture, enfin à un contrôle, enfin on sait pas vraiment. Il s'agissait alors d'inventer une histoire autour d'une photographie de l'artiste. Dans tout les cas voici les 10 meilleurs copies sélectionnées par Mme Robert qui ont été envoyées à un concours.
Si ça vous intéresse vous pouvez trouver un article sur l'exposition ici.
Bryan Pereira De Carvalho – 18 – Terminale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
I was a black man, despite the trouble of being a person of color and the hard life following it, I was proud of myself.
I was a black man, and each day was a fight that I could lose.
I was a black man, and despite the difficulties I had to find my way.
I was a black man, and I tried my whole life to stay away from the defective side.
I was a black man, father at 19, lost my brother the following year.
I was a black man, no doors were open and I had to pick the locks by myself.
I was a black man, I had a dream just like anybody else, I ate and drank just like everybody else.
I kept my head up despite the challenges, I thought by staying away from the hood that I wouldn't be in any trouble, I couldn't even grasp how wrong that was.
I was a black man, and I had to be the one fixing myself to survive, acting kind to veer the bullets.
I was a black man, and each time I got pulled over I was frightened.
I was a black man, or perhaps was I born in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I had a granddaughter and if my color brought me misfortunes I pin one's hopes on the world to let her grasp a sliver of beauty in this unfortunate world that took my life before her eyes.
If one thing's for sure, I was a blissed out black man
Léon Muselli – 16 – Terminale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
1950s. Chicago, IL
As I entered the subway and took a seat with today’s newspaper it hit me like a wall of bricks. My life had no meaning. This realization had come to me by seeing all the other people wearing the same clothes, the same hat, reading the same newspaper with the same reactions for each article. I was just an exact copy of them, as well as them being exact copies of me.
Suddenly, I realized that I had given up my desire of discovering
new things, exploring and being myself. In this great city, the greatest of all. I was just a number, a statistic, or even a robot executing its routine all day long without thinking about it. Although my life hadn’t always been like this, I cannot remember the moment when everything changed.
Now that I think about it, I am in a desperate need of freedom, chaos and love. Tomorrow, no, today and right now, it is time to take control of my own life. I should stop working for a year and take time for myself. I hope you will follow my example, if you ever get stuck in a routine like mine.
Thomas Tanneur – 17 – Terminale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
July 27, 1954. New York, NY
My so precious love, my dearest, if only I could tell you how much I love you. Take my hand, yes, keep it in yours forever and never let it go…. Lever let me go again …. Forever, I will be by your side because I can’t live without you. Indeed, far from you, my existence lost all meaning and I would only live in order to be with you again. I can see the blaze in your eye but I am frightened it will go away when we are no longer together again. I remember when we met. We were just kids when we fell in love. We have grown so much since then and we used to give so much love to each other, yet it ends. I will not only regret stop talking to you but also stop listening to your melodic voice. Since we met, you made me better, day after days, and your beauty never stopped growing.
Although we are not the same, we are one and you constitute my whole universe. Your smile is my sunshine therefore when I try to imagine a future where you are not my vision becomes blurry. Yesterday, I was in Korea, weapon in hand, ready to fight, to kill. I wish that moment, when I was holding your hand, lasted forever. When I feel your body next to mine hours turn into seconds whereas here, in the middle of hell hours turn into seconds. I feel so lonely that even dying doesn’t scare me. If only I could tell you all this… However, I have your hand forever in mine. I have to squeeze it as hard as possible in order to make my warmth stay with you forever even if I am far from you. Yet, far from you I may be going to die for the land of the free and the home of the braves.
Warda Siddiqui – 18 – Terminale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
Undated
In the evening of December, in that haze, I cross their blindfolded gaze when they pass by. Winter is settling in, in New York City where my body is full of dust and scrambled by that vicious wind. I pass by that clothing store and glance at that pair of gloves way too expensive, way too big for me. But I wear a ring around my wrist. It is called «watch » and it tells me time, that is flying away like the speed of light, leaving behind my trembling soul. It outshines the tiny bits of sand on my tee-shirt. The sun is setting down on the city of dreams. I can hear it growling again. While some are finding solace in their warm sheets, some are engaging themselves in dark deeds. I hurry up to reach the beach. And here I am, out among them, back and forth, while I am jaded like ever with my feet sunk in the mud by the shore. It’s far away from the noisy streets and the busy souls lost in the uncanny tempo of urban life. The voices in my back fade away as I get stunned by the infinite ocean ahead of me. The rhythm of the waves is absorbed in me, it’s bliss. The sun has finally left the sky, my tears are dry on my cheeks leaving them as sour as my soul. I follow them, the mass of strangers going back home where warmth is at its peak and being loved is common.
Diana Stana – 17 – Terminale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
New York Public Library
Life gives you choices, but to me, it took them away. I thought I could make things change, try to allow us, to allow myself to make my dreams come true without being subjected to a society that only wants to have power, that only gives you power if you are a man. I do not want to be the head of government. I just want to be able to tell myself that if I want to do something or be someone I could. I do not want to wake up thinking about every detail of my outfit, my hair, my makeup. If only my life were so simple, if I could wear whatever I want, express myself whenever I want… You have this freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want without anyone blaming you. I saw you in the distance when you thought I would not see, would not know. You were there, with that girl with golden hair and the perfect body, the one who makes me hate my body when I look at myself in the mirror. She is the one who knew how to keep you away from me, in the moments you were my reason to live. But you destroyed everything for a stranger, a stranger I envy. I see you, every Monday at the same place, in front of the library, which was once our special place of love and reverie. This place that cradled our most beautiful fantasies and our hopes for adventure. Our dreams of freedom for each other. The chance to express ourselves through the world. We wanted to discover this freedom and to tame it. But dreams remain dreams and they do fly away with my love that you have reduced to nothing by abandoning yourself in her arms.
Yousra Saoudi – 17– Terminale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
New York, 3 septembre 1954
This morning, sitting on this chair while my hairdresser was doing my hair, I kept thinking about my life and about how I would give anything away to change it with someone else. I knew my husband, Patrick, and I were married mainly for his reputation, but although I loved him, he did not. Earlier this morning, I woke up, he was not there, as usual, glanced at the alarm clock, saw it was six in the morning and thought that I would wake up early today. I headed to the living room and heard my husband talking to someone. I usually do not listen but the person he was talking to seemed important. Therefore, I hid behind the stairs and listened carefully to what he was saying. Then my world burnt to ashes. He was having an affair. I was too busy playing the scene over and over in my head that I did not pay attention to him ending the call and saying good morning to me. At that moment I decided to act like every other day to erase any suspicion from him. We ate breakfast, the atmosphere was heavy, and he reminded me about the auction taking place tonight. After, he went to, God knows where, while my hairdresser did that stunning hairstyle. In a blink of an eye, we were in the late afternoon and although I had to join Patrick near the Met I did not want to. I was in the car, wearing this elegant dress and these lovely pieces of jewelry, when I looked at people being joyful through my window. Looking at them made me realize that money can’t buy happiness, but it only can be a part of it. I can buy almost anything I want. I have this vast penthouse in the Upper East Side, but I am not happy. And here I was going pretending that my marriage and everything else was perfect.
Laïha Ligar – 17 – Terminale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
Every morning, before going to school, my mom braids my hair and tells me to become the best because she said that I am smarter than other children so that I don’t waste my potential in playing with them. None of my classmates wear a tight braid like mine. They all let their hair down or wear a trendy hairstyle. I want to let my hair down too because the tightness of my braid hurts a lot. I should keep it because for my parents wearing a braid symbolizes discipline whereas for me it means pressure, the pressure to satisfy my own parents, the pressure to fail and for this reason I hate this braid which is made with my own hair. It’s for my parents and because I am the eldest of my big family, in the middle class, with many children, I should succeed and be the greatest child, to make them proud of me and to have their satisfaction and love. I was always the good child who was loved by teachers, had the best marks and who never flinched during exams so I can continue like that. For this purpose, in my mind, I go to school with this painful braid which oppresses me, however the more time goes by and I grow up the more my braid gets loose when I come back home.
Emmanuel Llop – 17 – Termiale- Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
108th Street, New York, 28 September 1959
I remember this day. It was a normal day of September in New York. I woke up at five in the morning and woke the kids up after fixing them breakfast. After that I took them on a journey in New York as usual. There was a cool breeze and the kids were looking around as if they had never seen the world outside of their house. Of course, I didn’t forget to take my camera. It was like a ritual, each time I was alone with the kids I would take pictures. When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a photographer, but I didn't find the courage to do it. When I am on a journey like this one, I like to imagine if the people that I cross did live up to their dreams, were brave enough to live the American Dream. As we walked through the city and its boroughs, we came across an ice cream shop and I told the kids to buy themselves an ice cream cone. Once they were gone, I looked around and across the road I saw life. I saw different generations of people grouped together at the same place and time. I took a picture in a hurry and then the moment was gone forever. Tonight, in my room I stored the undeveloped film knowing I would never see this picture of daily life.
David Huang – 17 – Terminale - Mme Robert- Lycée Lucie Aubrac Pantin
Today is like every other day. I woke up at 6 am, took a shower, ate breakfast and got ready for work. As I was dressing up, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought something was wrong. I did not mind, ignored it and went straight to work. I arrived at my workplace and was told my contract was coming to an end so I sat at my desk, looking at the city through the blinds of my window, thinking about what I should do after my contract ends. I got back to work and when my shift ended I just sat there gazing at the blue sky outside my window. I picked up the mirror beside the plant on my desk, and as I was doing my hair with the help of my mirror I realized multiple faces of mine reflected. They somehow had different expressions, the face in front of me was mine. I was smiling but did not feel happy or anything. "Was I always smiling?" I told myself. I looked at the other face. It looked displeased as it was watching the face in front of me. "Why is it so unhappy? isn't this supposed to be reflecting my own face?". The last face was hidden, I could not see its expression but I was sure it was another reflection of mine. Then it struck me, I realized these reflections show my inner selves. A version of me that always smiles no matter the situation, putting on a façade, a fake one, not showing my true self. Another version of me is unhappy, displeased with life, it looked like it hated the first face. Maybe it was showing me I am not satisfied with myself. Maybe I needed a change. I have always wanted to become a dancer when I was little, but I quickly gave up on it after my parents got divorced. Maybe It is a sign for me to pursue my own dreams. As I thought of this, the third face showed itself a little bit more, I could see the corner of a genuine and happy smile. I put the mirror down and stood up, left my workplace in excitement. I was truly convinced this was to tell me not to give up on my dreams. I ended my work contract early and immediately searched for job offers about dancing. This is the first time in years that I felt excited and happy. True happiness in life lies in what your heart truly desires.