Josette Sarda has always had "a thing" with train stations. Already when she took the RER B to go to high school or go out in Paris. Time has passed, and so have the trains, but the fascination of the 71-year-old photographer based in Villebon-sur-Yvette (Essonne) has remained.
After a first job in the RER trains, Josette Sarda did it again. Off the train this time. Between 2020 and 2022, the septuagenarian walked along line B to photograph the facades of train stations... and their neighbours.
24 shots
The result is called "Navigo, continued. Vis-à-vis" and is unveiled in 24 shots at the MJC in Palaiseau (Essonne), as part of the 17th month of photography, launched this weekend and overseen by the city's photo club - of which Josette Sarda is a member.
Palaiseau, Saturday, January 13. Josette Sarda wanted to "tell the story of what people no longer see". LP/Th.D.
Orsay or Bures-sur-Yvette in Essonne, Fontenay-aux-Roses (Hauts-de-Seine), Gentilly (Val-de-Marne)... Josette Sarda followed the RER B line to Denfert-Rochereau (Paris). The stations of the southern suburbs are displayed next to their counterparts, as if one were responding to the other. There, a freshly refurbished train station façade, here a decrepit bistro. And vice versa.
"I wanted to tell the story of what people don't see anymore," says Josette. We get used to our stations, but they are part of our heritage. Sometimes they are the last vestiges of an era. The exhibition also questions their place in their environment. "Some of them are drowned in the middle of the buildings," the photographer regrets.
Month of Photography in Palaiseau, until January 28 in Palaiseau. Free exhibitions at the MJC, the Cultural Factory, Espace 181, the Hautes Garennes social centre and in the park of the town hall.