puce_mathieu Mathieu Drouet
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In Fiction - Brave New World

2012 - 2015

Unadorned Sets

Would you still recognize the sets of Game of Thrones, Indiana Jones, and The Affair without their characters? How well do movie sets replicate the places they’re inspired by? After going through the set of Sergio Leone movies in Andalusia, Mathieu Drouet photographed places tied to works of fiction during his trips to Louisiana (USA), Newfoundland (Canada), the Tabernas Desert (Spain), and Ghent (Belgium). With the house where the Amityville murders happened (which is not where the movies were shot), the set of The Hunger Games, a plantation in Louisiana, a statue of Superman - this series blurs the lines between reality and fiction, the spectacular and the memorable. While some locations are easily identifiable, others merely confirm the power that fictional stories have over our perception of the ordinary.

Fountain with a castle tower and two bears in Andalusia Bodie State Historic Park, Taberbas, Spain abandoned ghost town in Tabernas Desert, Spain Smaill white house, Cabo de Gata, Spain Lighthouse on a hill with blue sky and clouds in the background, Montauk, USA A small chapel on the edge of a mountain road in autumn. Appalaches, USA mountain landscape. forest Appalaches Sculpture of a shark at the entrance. Mobile Alabama THE house in Amityville, New York , USA A woman in a long blue skirt and a pink headband stands on the porch of the house. Lafayette, Louisana woman sitting in a cafe and looking through the blinds. New Orleans, Louisana Signboard in St John's, Newfoundland.
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Tiny Roads

Juillet 2020 - Septembre 2021

Paths of Constraint

The contours of ’Tiny Roads’ follow the lockdown perimeter established in the province of Valencia at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the summer of 2020, Mathieu Drouet captured the slower pace of life: closed factories, empty beaches, resorts without tourists, visible signs of the pandemic, along with the pockets of freedom he found within the sanitary restrictions, from stays at a local luxury hotel to gatherings at secluded villas with a small social circle: his partner and close friends.

The lockdown measures in Valencia created the frame of a limited perimeter. The images capture the city and its surroundings, emptied of residents and tourists, but also life in private villas and the sense of melancholic fantasy that hotels provide to locals.

View of the streets of Benidorm. Bingo Sign in Benidorm Young woman tourist with a bag on the background of the city Benidorm Beautiful seascape with blue sky, sea and sand. A young woman with a backpack walking in the park on a sunny day. car parked in the street at night in Benidorm, Spain Palm tree on the beach at night in Spain Sailboats in the marina at night. Interior of a cafe in a modern style Swimming pool with a covid mask in hotel resort Tree on the beach with blue sky and white clouds in summer day Young woman in red swimsuit standing on rock and looking at sea Abandoned silos in the countryside of the town of Valencia, Spain A girl in a pyjama with a cat on the bed. Window on the facade of a modern apartment building. View from below. The moon over the city of Valencia, Spain.
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NAVIRE & MAISON­NETTES

2012

Intime & quotidien

Navire & Maisonnettes is the fruit of a collaboration between Mathieu Drouet and Red, a musician from Lille. With no preconceived ideas, they explored for six months the Vauban district and the Courée Saint-Maurice, which remains a zone of poverty in its district to this day. The residents – new immigrants, social workers, or long-standing residents – are the protagonists of the photography part of the project, casting a kind light on their daily lives, cherished objects, everyday places, and pets. The project evolved with each encounter and at the pace at which individuals allowed the artists into the privacy of their lives.

Typical window in the city of Lille, France Two women sitting on a bench in the courtyard of a residential building, Lille, France Young couple sitting on a wall with a cup of coffee in their hands. Lille, France Portrait of a senior man standing at the counter of a cafe. Lille, France Flowers in pots on the windowsill of a house in Lille, France Little girl with long braids sitting on a chair in the street. Lille, France Open book with green grass on the ground. Lille, France A young woman walking through an old brick building in the city. Lille, France Model of a toy car on an old wooden table in a room Indian family with umbrella standing on bridge in the park. Lille, France Street view of Lille, France Portrait of a happy senior woman standing by the river in park
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Sudan

fevrier 2004

Between the Second and Third Cataracts of the Nile

In 2004, Mathieu Drouet crossed paths with Francis Geus, archaeologist and head of the Egyptology Department at University of Lille III. As an intern, he traveled to Sudan with an archaeological safeguarding mission on the Island of Saï and in Nubia, where Sudanese and Europeans collaborate, and where the remains of different eras coexist, from post-Egyptian civilizations to medieval societies. The photographer captured scenes of camp life, landscapes of the Nile, and the excavation work at UNESCO sites, as well as official visits, the wildlife in the Pharaonic sites, and the daily life of the populations around the site. The images taken during this journey were forgotten for fifteen years, only to be rediscovered in 2020 with a more seasoned eye.

Rocks on the bank of the Nile River in Nubia, Sudan. Beautiful sunset Nubia, Sudan Sunset over the desert in Nubia, Sudan Unidentified man standing near minarets in Nubia, Sudan Unidentified people on a boat on the river Nile. A young couple walks along the bank of the Nile river in Nubia, Sudan in the middle of the desert rock and sand dune like concept of wild and natural, Nubia, Sudan little boy on the boat. Nubia, Sudan Elderly couple reading a book on a boat, Nubia, Sudan Pharon Tombs, Nubia, Sudan the sign of the zebra crossing in the middle of the desert, Nubia, Sudan man standing on the bank of the Nile river in Nubia, Sudan Ruins of the Amenophis 3 temple complex, Nubia, Sudan Sand dunes , Sahara, Sudan
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Burnout

2015

Attempt to Exhaust the American Dream

For few weeks, Mathieu Drouet and his partner Agathe Vuachet travel through the United States by train and car. With the sole constraint of spending Halloween in New Orleans, where they would attend a voodoo ceremony, this journey far from the major tourist attractions deconstructs Americana and tells the story of the United States just before the 2016 election of Donald Trump. From Chicago to Louisiana and from Memphis to Virginia, the images in Burnout depict Americans’ relationship to veterans, religion, leisure, and natural disasters, by deconstructing the cultural layers that make up the American Dream, but rarely illustrating the American Dream itself.

The interior of a casino in Chicago. Autumn leaves in front of a house building with a black lives matter sign. Oil and gas station with an american army truck Veterans Tourist couple looking at the view from the observation deck on the mountain View of skyscrapers in Downtonw Chicago. View of decorative objects in the streets of Chicago in the afternoon Lifeguard tower at Mobile Beach, Alabama. woman walking on the beach at sunset. Traffic cones on the road in the rain with fallen trees.