The Anonymous Project

Installations, Projection and lectures

Fifty years ago, people used 35mm cameras as we use our smartphones in the Instagram era. They photographed what they ate, their holidays, their friends, and their family reunions. Imagining what pushed a stranger to press the shutter decades ago is what motivated Lee Shulman, who collected color slides from the 1930s to 1980s, taken by fans around the world. The founder and creative director of The Anonymous Photo Project is soon joined by Emmanuelle Halkin, who accompanies him in the development of this ambitious project.

The intense colors and sharpness of Kodachrome capture timeless and familiar moments forming the kaleidoscopic diary of an era. The protagonists immortalize the highlights that punctuate their lives but also the changes specific to the consumer society of the post-war period (the arrival of television or a gleaming car for example). These moving anonymous archives celebrate the “things of life” and draw the outlines of a collective memory, ordinary but precious.

After an exhibition sponsored by Picto Foundation at The Encounters of Photography, Arles and critically acclaimed, The Anonymous Project resulted in four books: “The House” (Textual Editions), “Midcentury Memories” (TASCHEN), “Andrew is more beautiful than you “by Arnaud Cathrine and” Histoire de familles “by Justine Lévy (Flammarion). In this book, Justine Lévy invents the stories behind these intimate and universal images. Make a good time during this event with the reading of extracts by the author, in parallel with a projection. To complete this immersion, also discover the installation The Anonymous Project at La Comète!

The Eyes Publishing ensures the art directon of La Comète