À la Bastille, 2023

Bianca Cassandre   New & remarkable Artists

A moment of tension and effervescence grips the public space of Paris at the Bastille. In the center of the composition, a man advances under an imposing French flag while a crowd is outlined through the smoke. Bathed in an almost unreal light, the scene oscillates between documentary observation and cinematic image.

The blue, white, and red of the flag emerge powerfully from a palette dominated by cool and vaporous tones. The isolated silhouette in the foreground contrasts with the density of the crowd in the background, giving the image a dimension that is both intimate and collective. The stretched shadows, the smoke, and the partially blurred figures transform a Parisian moment into a scene open to interpretation.

Without imposing a single narrative, At the Bastille questions the relationship between the individual, the crowd, and the symbols that occupy public space. The photograph retains the immediacy of a lived scene while exceeding its context to evoke more universal notions of belonging, memory, and collective identity.

This photograph has also been selected to illustrate the work of Bianca Cassandre in a profile published by , testifying to the editorial recognition given to her gaze on Paris and her contemporary photographic practice.