Photographs taken by Juliette Treillet, Guillaume Chauvin and users of the Bar du Bonheur and the Spanish association La Educativa in Givors.
Artistic intervention conceived and led by Juliette Treillet and Guillaume Chauvin.
Creation time conducted on one week in September 2025.
Au happiness bar and the Spanish association La Educativa in Givors.
Intervention carried by Stimultania.
Support by the Ministry of Culture (Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), the State Secretariat for Citizenship and the city and town of Givors within the framework of the city contract.
With the support from the gîte An olive tree in the stars.
“Spending a week in these two bars in Givors was a unique experience for me: first of all, we had to overcome the mistrust of the regulars (towards us as much as towards the cameras), always show good will, try to organize the unpredictable, and, like customers betting on racehorses, bet that – as a photographer – we would succeed in “making an image”…
I also remember this: the first day, Aziz, one of the loyal customers, said that “photography is either cheating or making a mistake,” and that “the Lumière brothers have put us in the dark.” Also, Aziz didn’t want to believe that I was planning to bring a real horse to this PMU. The last day, while petting the animal, Aziz came to ask me why I had insisted on doing “all that”… I replied that I wanted to try to put a bit of reality back into reality: bringing the horse out of the bar’s TV would perhaps remind people that the animal also existed outside the screen, thus closing the loop that the Lumière brothers had unclosed… Aziz smiled. He still refused to be photographed.”
Guillaume Chauvin
© Guillaume Chauvin / Tendance Floue Collective
“We sat at tables or directly at the counter. We placed our cameras and notebooks on the bar, between the wine stains. There were some suspicious people, of course, but mostly curious people. We were quickly offered drinks, food, figs from the garden, cakes. We didn't really know what we were looking for, what we could say about all this. It's complex, in fact, life, difficulties, dreams, feeling trapped, searching for freedom. For us too, it's complex, telling our story without betraying. So, we lent the cameras, we let the images and words circulate; and we recommended a coffee.”
Juliette Treillet
© Juliette Treillet