I understand that l’enfermement does not seem to be a state that most people would appreciate to be in, meanwhile most pictures in the zine do not necessarily convey a delightful message. Yet upon learning the concept from the professor, I decided back then I would use this word in a very important context, because I felt it was truthfully a fitting description to my way of work and my mindset. The more I come back to it over the years, the more I believe that this state, in all its distinction and rarity, is to be held close to my heart under the circumstances of our era, a time full of noises.
To me, l’enfermement puts up a wall, defining an “inside” and an “outside”, as well as this solid boundary between them. For those who are enfermé(e), those who build such wall, the state of l’enfermement is the acknowledgment of the absolute dominance of the outside - yet the acknowledgement of a fact does not lead to the surrender to a way of being, but contempt. The enfermé(e) believe in the relative strength of their “inside” to rebel against the outside, that their energy is better spent to nurture the inside, to discover, and to accomplish all within the inside.
So is this a statement of a long-standing disappointment having lived for the “outside”?
I can’t really answer that, but I can be sure that the zine is not about some gloomy relationship within my family. If not only on the contrary, these photos were born out of a sense of security and serenity in the physical environment of home.
read more about the project description.