FRANCH Maxime

Les Invisibles

France

2020

In 2012, it was estimated that 143 000 people were homeless in France. No new census survey has been carried out since then. The collective Les Morts de la rue registered the death of 566 homeless individuals in 2018. “Les Invisibles” are portraits of those no one looks at, talks to, to whom we might only grant an embarrassed smile or perhaps a bit of change, those who are immediately forgotten.

For his installation, Maxime Franch chose a particular medium to talk about this marginalised population: identity photography, administrative and inalterable proof that we are part of society. He has chosen to challenge us square on with these marked faces, these people damaged by life. There is no escape ; here, they are no longer invisible.

About the artist

Born in 1996, graduated from the École des Gobelins in 2019, Maxime Franch lives and works in Paris. He soon focused his practice on portraiture and the intimate using a social approach with an aim to restore the self-esteem of people he meets, some of whom are marginalised, asking us not to look away.