Jubilant Photo Challenge

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This week’s challenge is ‘jubilant’. We met that gentleman a few months back in the suburbs of Paris, in Bagneux. He is 83 years old. He lives in a small and strange house full of junk and seemed quite happy with this. When you saw him he was jubilant and he showed us around his house and posed for photos. Here is my report behind the scenes.

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He is 83 but lives at no. 93 in his street in Bagneux, south of Paris.

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He keeps piling up junk all over the place. Viviane Maier was like that. She used to pile up old newspapers and other items and filled her room up to a point she was sort of walking between walls of paper. I suppose that this is some kind of disorder, even though a very mild one.

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It’s all over the place.

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Fumbling for his keys.

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A French man’s home is his castle. I have good memories of my encounter with this gentleman. He was happy and welcoming. We started chatting with him in the street and ended up here. He certainly was conscious that he was mildly eccentric but didn’t make a meal of it and seemed to be happy with his lot. That’s what came to mind when thinking about the ‘jubilant’ theme.

PS: searching for information, I found this on “compulsive hoarding” or “hoarding disorder” which is the name given to this condition.

Yann Gourvennec
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4 Comments

  1. What a lovely and compassionate post! Although it’s difficult for me (and perhaps his neighbors) to imagine living with such clutter, it’s good that he is happy with his lot. Everyone should have a place, no matter how little, they can call their own.

  2. What a unique interpretation of this week’s theme; makes me want to see more of your work as a photographer.

    I’ll be following you from now on. Have an amazing day! 🙂

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