Souvenir d’un Futur

Memory of a Future  is photography project of Laurent Kronental. The artist documents housing estates built for refugees and migrants after WWII at the peripheries of Paris.

Souvenir d’un Futur is a vibrant tribute to senior citizens stranded in the “Grands Ensembles” of the Paris region. These grand housing estates, erected after the Second World War to house a population of rural refugees and foreign migrants, are peopled with a heterogeneous mix. They are often depicted by the media with images of insecurity and neglect. In sharp contrast with these clichés, and enthralled by their passé modernist appeal, Laurent Kronental has compassionately sought to pay tribute to these urban veterans who have aged there and who may well go down with them. (l’Oeil)

Despite all the critisism of modern architectural landscapes and problems inherited in those. Laurent Kronental tells us a different story:

“There is actually a strength in these people. There are those melancholy glances but at the same time these solid postures. The people I photographed were far from being sad and they were still valiant despite, sometimes, a faraway look,” (The Washington Post)

Visit Laurent’s website for other amazing photos of this imaginary of future from our shared past.

Photo Essay: Street Art in an Abandoned Belgian Village

Street art takes over the ghost town of Doel

The eerie Belgian village is largely abandoned, with only 25 remaining residents – and it has become a playground for street artists, from ROA to Resto, Ives.One to ADT

Also check Doel: the ghost town that’s a paradise for graffiti artists

The Chinese Ghost Town: Ordos

The Empty City of Ordos, China: A Modern Ghost Town

It’s been called the Dubai of northern China, showered with wealth, packed with public infrastructure and located near to precious natural resources in a region plagued by water-supply troubles. But the urban center of Ordos City, known as ‘Kangbashi New Area’, has been mostly deserted for five years.

(Photo by Michael Christopher Brown)

 

Ghost Estates of Ireland

Ghost Estates of Ireland: Symbols of an Economic Collapse

Built with visions of suburban prosperity in more optimistic times, the empty shells of former dream homes dot the countryside among piles of construction rubble and fallen-down fences. Economic highs and lows have led to abandonments of entire villages all over the world, from China to the Mediterranean, but Ireland is among the nations that was particularly hard-hit

(Photo by Valérie Anex)

Photos of ghost estates of Ireland, which Valérie Anex took, are like a summary of the madness we live in!