Round-table discussion organised by Axis 2 - based on Pierre Gallocher's collection: "La fabrique en photographie et en récit des quartiers populaires et des habitats non ordinaires de Marseille".

The Mesopolhis laboratory and Ancrages* are joining forces to organise this round-table discussion, which will be held on 23 June (2 pm - 4 pm) at the MMSH / Aix-en-Provence.

Hosted by : Samia Chabani (Anchoring) and Marc Bernardot (Mesopolhis)

We will be holding a round-table discussion on the photographic and narrative production of working-class neighbourhoods and non-ordinary habitats (camps, shanty towns, urban wastelands, transit housing estates, etc.), based on the work of Pierre Gallocher (1921-1996) on Marseilles in the 1970s. A former chaplain for maladjusted children in the 1960s, Pierre Gallocher was a tireless photographer of Marseille's residents, and is the author of several books, including "Marseille, zigzags dans le passé" in 1985, and "Marseille Trottoir, 25 siècles de prostitution" in 2001, both published by Paul Tacussel.

Many of these initiatives are based on photographic collections, particularly documentaries, which document the living conditions of the marginalised classes, particularly in the United States and Europe. The first visual sociologists were interested in a critical sociological approach that was direct and close to the ground, based on long-term involvement and inspired by the field approach used by documentary photographers and the Chicago School. The fruitful links between sociology and photography enable a critical approach to the meaning of images according to the context in which they are produced and viewed. The reflexive approach, i.e. making explicit the procedures used in the research process and reflecting on the type of relationship between observer and observed, thus becomes essential in research with and about images.

The seminar will provide an opportunity for researchers, photographers and community workers to discuss the series of photographs of non-ordinary inhabitants and habitats and of places of immigrant centrality in Marseille and the surrounding area taken by Pierre Gallocher in the 1970s:

• Cyril Choupas, freelance photographer (Le Monde, Jeune Afrique, Ubek & Rica, Takepart Media, SocioAlter, Ballast), who digitised the collection,
• Arnaud Le Marchand, socio-economist (MCF Le Havre Normandie University), author of books on non-ordinary housing,
• Cesare Mattina, sociopolitician (MCF Aix-Marseille University), specialist in Marseille and Mediterranean cities,
• Frédéric Pauvarel, photographer with the Inventaire du Patrimoine PACA and author of art books. He has helped to promote the Gallocher collection.

• The face-to-face and remote discussions will be moderated by :

• Samia Chabani, director and co-founder of Ancrages, a Marseille-based resource centre for migratory history and local social history.
• Marc Bernardot, Professor of Sociology at Aix Marseille University and Director of the Mediterranean Centre for Sociology, Political Science and History (MESOPOLHIS) in Aix-en-Provence.

* In 2023, Ancrages is continuing its work to promote the social demands for memory that are emerging in our society, particularly those linked to the urban, social and political changes affecting the working classes and their territories. Collective memories are an essential element in understanding their representations of the upheavals they have experienced, at individual, family and neighbourhood level. In the age of globalisation, recent studies have highlighted the marginalisation of working-class neighbourhoods, as a result of policies that have not been effectively coordinated (renovations, restructuring, major land development projects, etc.), but also the rise of collective action by local people to integrate these areas socially and urbanistically. While we see this project as a contribution to the debate on working-class neighbourhoods, our previous work on promoting the archives of associations, social centres and militant groups, and the stories we have collected, form the basis on which we are developing our 2023 theme. Ancrages, 3 rue Marchetti, 13002 Marseille.