Place de la République has long been a stage for political passion and a symbol of gathering, democracy, and freedom in Paris. In République, Bérangère Fromont photographs the square and the young people who gather there, treating the presence of the body in space, the play of light, and the individual’s relationship to their surroundings as her principal subjects. The series, initiated in 2023, reads as an intimate, fragmented portrait of one place.
The book extends concerns Fromont pursued in an earlier project, Except the Clouds (2016), which examined the Athenian uprisings and the human place in History. Her new images focus on youth, capturing the gestures and bodies of a generation marked by uncertainty about the future and the turbulence of History. They convey the spirit of a city that shifts between revolt and calm, revealing what connects us all: emotions, struggles, and the pursuit of balance.
Across these pages, resistance appears in many forms — personal, collective, political, and existential — showing how these young people inhabit the world, engage with their environment, and strive to exist amid surrounding instability. The volume is published by Chose Commune in a bilingual English and French edition with a text by Emilie Houssa. Concept and editorial direction are by Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi, who designed the book in collaboration with Perrine Serre. It is a first edition of 256 pages with 72 plates, measuring 24 by 30.5 centimeters, published with the support of fonds de dotation agnès b.
Bérangère Fromont is a Paris-based photographer whose work over the past fifteen years has intertwined intimate, collective, and literary references, blending documentary and fiction around the central theme of resistance — individual and collective forms, political struggles, quests for visibility, and resisting as a force of life. Her photographs are shown internationally and featured in various publications. In 2023 she was a finalist for the Foam Paul Huf Award, and her book L’Amour seul brisera nos cœurs was selected for the Rencontres d’Arles Book Awards. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Poush Manifesto in Aubervilliers and is represented by Galerie Bacqueville.
