This photographic series, started in December 2020 and continued until 2024, was born from a technical incident: my camera broke down for three months, preventing me from producing new images. During that period, I asked myself: What does a photographer become without their camera? How can one express something when they lose their primary tool for creation?
I decided to revisit my archive of analog photographs and use Photoshop to create new images. I experimented with layering photos, playing with opacity, combining black-and-white images with color ones, and merging photographs taken in France with others captured in Tunisia. This approach allowed me to overcome the technical malfunction and transform my personal experience of living between two countries into a visual landscape where France and Tunisia merge in my imagination and images.
This series represents an attempt to create a « third space » visually—an undefined space composed of a blend of influences from both countries. This experience reflects the life of migrants who, confronted with the loss of their mother tongue, must adapt to a new language before eventually inventing a « hybrid language » that combines the two without prioritizing either.
This series was exhibited at :
– GHALAYAN | Expired Moments, Tunis, Tunisia, 2022.
– Memory, Beirut Image Festival, Beirut, Lebanon, 2022.
– Vantage Point Sharjah 10, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2022.
A photo from this series won first prize at the Gabès, Cinéma Fen festival and was chosen to be the festival’s official poster in 2022.
Aya Chriki 