Reconsidering one’s artistic projects

Finalist

A few weeks ago, I responded to a call for an artistic residency organized by the ECPAD, an institution responsible for managing the French army’s audiovisual collections. The theme focused on the forests of the Grand Est region as witnesses to the First World War.

I later learned that my project had been shortlisted among the finalists. I was invited to present and defend my proposal before a jury, but another candidate was ultimately selected as the laureate. However, these exchanges led to an unexpected continuation: drawn to the originality of my intention, the ECPAD offered to support and accompany the project’s realization, though within a framework different from that of the initially planned residency.

I will therefore continue this work independently, relying on the ECPAD to facilitate certain steps. This situation prompted me to reflect not on the outcome itself, but on what made this application different from my previous ones.

With some distance, I can clearly identify two recent experiences as decisive.

From applicant to juror

The first was my participation as an expert member of a jury. Last autumn, the Fondation Mécène et Loire (already a partner in my residency in Angers two years earlier) invited me to join the jury for its 2026 edition. Moving from the position of applicant to that of juror makes certain selection logics immediately tangible.

I was able to observe how the projects that capture the jury’s attention are often those whose realization could not exist anywhere other than within the specific territory concerned. In itself, this realization offers no magic formula. It does, however, profoundly alter the way one conceives a proposal: it is no longer simply a matter of presenting an interesting project. If it could be transposed elsewhere, it will almost always lose out to a project that may be less original, but whose necessity is intrinsically tied to the place and production framework on offer.

The second decisive experience was the mentorship I undertook with Valérie Cazin from the Binôme gallery. This work helped me to identify my strengths more clearly and to learn how to highlight them within a form that is both legible and aligned with institutional expectations. Being in close contact with an influential professional in the photographic field made me realize just how essential clarity of thought, concision, and precision of language are.

Putting it into practice

I applied these lessons when writing my proposal for the ECPAD. Their impact was almost immediate. By emphasizing the absolutely inseparable relationship between the project and its territory, my application stood out among several hundred others.

In the end, not being selected as the laureate did not put an end to the project, in fact it's quite the opposite. Although it was not retained within the framework of the residency, it was nevertheless considered sufficiently distinctive and ambitious for the ECPAD to offer its support and guidance in bringing it to fruition.

I am now embarking on a project whose contours I am deliberately keeping discreet for the time being, but which you will certainly hear about again. It is, I believe, the most ambitious work I have undertaken to date.