By Manon Bourbousson, Juliette

Chabrier, Lola Sudreau, Laure

Olvers and Laure Wallez-Culioli

October 15th 2015

On Thursday 1st October, our

secondary school program Les

Jeudis d’Aubanel welcomed

Patrick Bard. The conference was

about the border between the

USA and Mexico, what it implies

on the economic, political and

social sides. We must say that

because of the work several

classes have done on the subject

and because of the numerous

posters posted in the Aubanel

corridors, the amphitheatre was

full. And of course, the English

European class was in the

amphitheatre.

Patrick Bard* was born in 1958 in

Montreuil-sous-Bois. He is a

photojournalist, a thriller author

and a traveller-novelist. He has

especially worked on the

suburbs, the roads and the

borders. His long photographic

essay about the Americano-

Mexican border (known as

Mexamerica) earned him ample

recognition. He is also an ardent

advocate of the photography

cause. He served in this context

many elective offices in the last

20 years.

Patrick Bard the novelist:

His 5 novels (especially his

detective novels) were inspired

by his photos. His first novel, The

Border, was awarded the Michel

Lebrun prize in France in 2002,

the Brigada 21 prize in Spain in

2005 and the Encres Noires prize

in 2006 in France. He currently

leads a personal work on the

water problem and the

indigenous people in South

America. With his wife (Marie-

Berthe Ferrer whom he works

with), he has recently published

Partir, traité de routologie

(2011), a work in photos, texts

and travel books. Orphelins de

sang (2010), the latest novel by

Patrick Bard, was rewarded by

the Sang d’Encre des Lycéens

prize in 2010 and the Lion Noir

prize in 2011. Around twenty

monograph and photograph

books have been devoted to him

since 1985.

Patrick Bard the photographer:

His artwork has especially been

exhibited in the Pompidou

Centre, in the Grande Halle de la

Villette, and in Mexico, Spain,

and Britain or in the US… And it

has been acquired by many

museums and private collections.

Through his work, which is visible

around the world, he wishes to

foster exchanges. Since 2007, he

has been represented by

Signatures, a photographers'

company*. In his opinion, a

photo is above all ‘ a depiction of

the photographer’s view of the

world’. But when he shoots a

photo, he contents himself with

being a simple witness because it

is not up to him to interfere.

According to him, a photo is here

to contribute to the democratic

debate. Therefore, the first

question he asks himself before

taking a cliché is : "Is this photo

going to be useful as a

contribution to the media

debate?"

Sometimes, the photo can take

part in the change of our society.

For example, Philips which has

factories in Mexico has stopped

the humiliating rules the women

were submitted to thanks to the

photos.

For him, a photo is stronger than

any newspaper articles and has

an undeniable power that articles

do not have as "a photography Tijuana, Canyon Zapata, 1996 ©Patrick

Bard

puts the human in the centre

whereas an article puts

information at the centre ".

The “El Norte” exhibition: Between 1996 and 2000, during

the “Gatekeeper operation”,

Patrick Bard shot a series of 52

photographs in Mexico near the

Patrick Bard: The man

and the photographer

Mexamerica: the third country

© Marie-Berthe Ferrer

border. This series of black and

white photos gave birth to an

exhibition called “El Norte”. In

this exhibition, the photographer

highlights the economic stakes

between an emerging country

and a powerful country, the

important narco-trafficking, the

illegal immigration, the

precarious life of the Mexican,

the globalization and the third

country which was born in 1994.

Mexamerica: We cannot imagine what all a

border implies, which is what

defines and rules our world. And

we can consider that the border

between the United States of

America and Mexico is one of the

greatest example that illustrates

this idea, as it is the most crossed

border in the world.

Originally, the territory of the

border belonged to Mexico. In

1848, the Americans took it from

the Mexicans.

Nowadays, the border between

the USA and Mexico is

demarcated by a wall (4200 km

long and 7 metres high) built

during Bill Clinton’s mandate.

This wall was erected in order to

reduce the Mexican migration

flows coming into the USA, which

is all the more paradoxical

because it was the period when

the USA, Canada and Mexico

signed an agreement (ALENA) for

free trade between them.

Of course, although the USA and

Mexico share a common history,

there is still a huge gap between

them and especially a social one.

First of all, the Mexicans do not

live in the same way the

Americans do. A large part of the

Mexicans, who work in factories

near the border, live in slums and

in dire poverty. The workers’

wages are lower in Mexico than

in the USA: about 5, 20$ in the

USA against 2$ or 3$ a day in a

same factory in Mexico. The

factories in Mexico do not

respect the workers’ rights. And

the women are the first victims.

They are indeed victims of

discrimination: some of the most

well-known companies which

have factories in Mexico imposed

humiliating rules. For example,

every month women have to

prove that they are not pregnant:

if they are pregnant, they risk to

be dismissed.

The cities near and along the

border are the theatre of great

violence. Actually, narco-

tracfficking has invaded those

cities, creating an atmosphere of

fear and of great tensions. Still,

women are the most affected by

violence: a sort of a macabre

game (called “feminicide” by

associations) consists in hunting

women as they come back alone

from work, raping them and

killing them. It is now wide

spread El Norte. A demonstration of the missing

persons’ families in front of Juarez City

Hall. Hundreds of women, mainly

maquiladora workers, have been

murdered these six last years. 2000. ©

Patrick Bard

through South America. But this

violence is not only present in

Mexico, it has invaded the South

of the USA: the city of El Paso has

become one of the most violent

places in the USA.

In 2004, an event showed that a

climax in violence had been

reached: Mexico decided to get

rid of the narco-traffickers with

the help of the USA. It led to a

war of gangs that killed between

120,000 and 150, 000 people.

This is one of the most

murderous events in the early

21st century.

Although the border brought a

lot of violence and problems in

the two countries alike, it is also

a place of great exchanges.

Indeed, as it is also known as the

3rd country, it has its own culture

(books written in Spanglish, films

directed by an American director

and a Mexican director…), its

own language (Spanglish, a

contraction of English and

Spanish) and its own art.

Mexico and the USA are going to

respectively americanize and

mexicanize, with the third

country. Some places in the USA

are about 70% Spanish speaking.

The states in the South of the

USA celebrate El DÍa de los

muertos. On the contrary,

Mexico celebrate Halloween

which is a sign of

americanization.

Some questions of the

audience:

• « Who shoots the

photo: the man or the

professional? » (a question of Mr

Amberny asked by Mrs Bessard)

Patrick Bard: Both. Because,

there is no border between the

man and the professional. My job

has really become a part of

myself.

• « What do people say

when you photograph them? »

P.B: It depends on the moments

[…] but generally, the populations

who are victims of persecutions

appreciate the presence of the

camera or the lens.

“What do you think

about the photo of the

three-year old Syrian boy

lying face down on a

Turkish beach?”

P.B: The photo is shocking but

useful to the democratic debate. I

think that the French media

failed in their duty of information

by not publishing this

photography.

“Why are your photos in

black and white?”

P.B: All my photos are not in

black and white. But a black and

white photo enables us to take a

certain distance between the real

world and the photo.

“What do you think of

the new trend of the

selfie?”

P.B: I am not going to give you

my own opinion on this practice.

But, what is certain is that, when

we shoot a selfie, we put all the

places of the world on the same

plan: the background.

Juliette’s point of view:

I guess that I actually speak on

behalf of us all when I say that

Patrick Bard is a really interesting

man. He didn’t speak to us as if

we were just teenagers listening

to him, but as adults with an

opinion to consider. We

exchanged with him and he gave

us his point of view about one

topic or another. It was not one

of those conferences during

which we almost fall asleep: Mr

Bard told us his story as a thrilling

novel. He told us about

Mexamerica in a different way

from our teachers did. He saw

Mexamerica, he took the

photographs we studied in class.

He explained us the life in the 3rd

Country, and this was really

intense. We couldn’t hide behind

our screen anymore: real history

was here, in his words, and we

couldn’t act as ignorant children

anymore. He considered us as

grown-ups, we had to show him

he was right. One thing that was

really nice with him was that he

didn’t speak about those things

that happened in Mexamerica in

a sinister tone. He said he had

been kidnapped and he had to

escape, with a smile, as if it was

sheer routine for him, which truly

impressed us. His job is a really

captivating way of life that made

us dream about another

perspective. He explained his

vision of the photography with

passion. We could see how much

he loves what he does. I found

that his presentation was the

most inspiring Jeudis d’Aubanel I

have ever participated in.

To finish:

To conclude the conference at

Aubanel, he simply declared:

"Photography is here to show the

unspeakable and writing is here

to say the unshowable ".

Due to his success, Patrick Bard

may come back at Aubanel in

December to speak about

Mexamerica again.

If you want to know more:

*http://www.signatures-

photographies.com/vitrine/fr

*http://www.patrickbard.com