{"id":74,"date":"2023-12-06T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mvgphoto.com\/?p=74"},"modified":"2024-11-06T21:28:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T19:28:36","slug":"our-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mvgphoto.com\/?p=74","title":{"rendered":"Our Town"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our Town est le portrait photographique de New Bern r\u00e9alis\u00e9 par MICHAEL von GRAFFENRIED<\/span>. New Bern est une petite ville de Caroline du Nord de 30 000 habitants, dont environ 55% de citoyens blancs et 33% de citoyens noirs. C\u2018est ici en 1710 que Christoph von Graffenried, \u00e9migr\u00e9 de Berne, en Suisse, a commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 construire quelques maisons au confluent des rivi\u00e8res Neuse et Trent; la cit\u00e9 naissante a pris le nom de sa ville natale. Prises sur une p\u00e9riode de 15 ans, les photos de Michael von Graffenried ne sont ni des compositions formelles ni des instantan\u00e9s \u00e9ph\u00e9m\u00e8res, mais des images patientes de la vie quotidienne. Elles se caract\u00e9risent par une empathie, une compr\u00e9hension de ses sujets et l\u2018absence de jugement: une congr\u00e9gation d\u2018\u00e9glise noire, de jeunes filles blanches s\u2018exer\u00e7ant \u00e0 la pratique du fusil; des hommes noirs \u00e9changeant de l\u2018argent dans la rue, un couple de blancs exhibant sa collection d\u2018armes \u00e0 feu et admiratif d\u2018un troph\u00e9e de la chasse – un grand ours en peluche; une strip-teaseuse noire s\u2018exhibant pour un homme blanc.<\/p>

En juin 2020, \u00e0 la suite du meurtre de George Floyd le 25 mai 2020, New Bern a connu la plus grande manifestation qu\u2018elle a jamais vue, parall\u00e8lement \u00e0 de nombreuses d\u00e9monstrations Black Lives Matter dans tout le pays. Pour la premi\u00e8re fois la question raciale, les relations entre Noirs et Blancs s\u2018exprimait dans la ville. Our Town de Graffenried est \u00e0 la fois un document sur la fiert\u00e9 d\u2019une communaut\u00e9 et un appel empathique \u00e0 une meilleure int\u00e9gration et une plus large compr\u00e9hension \u00e0 un moment d\u00e9cisif de l\u2019histoire.<\/p>

Our Town is MICHAEL von GRAFFENRIED\u2019s<\/span> photographic portrait of New Bern, a small city in North Carolina with a population of 30,000, conspicuously composed of 55% white and 33% black citizens. It was here in 1710 that Christoph von Graffenried of Bern, Switzerland, first began building houses at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers; the fledgling town took on the name of his home city. Taken over a period of 15 years, Michael von Graffenried\u2019s photos are neither overly formal compositions nor fleeting snapshots, but patient images of everyday life showing understanding and no judgment of his subjects: a black church congregation, young white girls at rifle practice; black men exchanging cash on the street, a white couple displaying their collection of firearms with the trophy of the hunt\u2014a great stuffed bear\u2014looking on; a black female stripper performing for a white man.<\/p>

In June 2020, following the killing of George Floyd one year ago on Mai 25, 2020, the largest demonstration New Bern had ever seen took place, parallel to many Black Lives Matter protests throughout the country and marking the first time the issue of black-white race relations had been thus proclaimed in the city. Von Graffenried\u2019s Our Town is a both a proud document of a community and an empathetic call for increased integration and understanding at a decisive moment in American history.<\/p>

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\u201c …Graffenrieds images showed New Bern in an unflatering, even racist, light.\u201c <\/em>
Sun Journal, New Bern, NC – Thursday, September 27, 2007<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

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\u00abWhen Swiss Roots, an organization that offers Americans a chance to trace their Swiss history, approached me with the idea of going to New Bern, I first said no. New Bern, where Pepsi Cola was born, is a small town in North Carolina. It was founded by a family ancestor, Christoph von Graffenried, who had sailed for America in 1710, and I felt I\u2019d worked enough on Switzerland for the time being. But on second thoughts, I decided I could use this family tie to open up the doors of this uneventful town. I went there several times over the year 2006. I wanted to hand America a looking-glass. A first selection of 33 panoramic pictures was shown in New Bern under the name \u201cOur Town \u2013 an inside look at the United States today \u00bb. New Bern\u2019s inhabitants did not like my version of their American life. Over the course of two months, local newspaper The Sun published eight articles without once publishing a picture, be it to announce the exhibition or to illustrate the debate over the project. I wonder if the freedom of the press in America is so obvious after all.\u00bb<\/p>

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\"032PledgeofAllegiance2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"031Mexicans\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"030chiefofpolice2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"029PublicUrination\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"028Backyard\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"027Deckparty\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"026Pose\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"025BlackNeighbourhood\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"024Nightlife\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"023Heroes\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"022Weight<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"021HighschoolGirls\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"020Pregnancy\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"019FactoryWorker\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"018Guns\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"017Baseball\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"016Nextdoor\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"015MuslimRefugees2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"014SoupKitchen2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"013Beauty\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"012Faith\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"Cherry<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"010Downtown2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"009Proms\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"008Drugs\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"007BabyShower\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"006Wedding\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"005Survival\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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\"003Graduation\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\"002School<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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OUR TOWN<\/strong> – Exhibition from October 7 to November 22, 2023 at FivePoints in New Bern NC, USA<\/p>

Media Coverage:<\/strong><\/p>

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