Rades

Rades – Taking its name from the slang used to affectionately describe a neighborhood bar, Rades flashes and exposes life in French bistros, today’s “disappearing spaces”. Whereas in the 1960s there were over 200,000 troquets in France, the number of IV licenses has since plummeted to barely 40,000. Documenting these closures could have been an angle. To show the empty glass, the absence at the counter, the decrepitude of the plasterwork. This series, on the other hand, chooses to show the half-raised rather than lowered curtain of these colorful establishments, warmly animated by their owners and regulars who frequent them on a daily basis.

With more than 220 immersions carried out over 4 years in the bars of France, the Rades series offers a panorama of portraits, details and scenes of life in these “resistant” places, now in the running to be listed as part of France’s intangible cultural heritage. Embark on a bistro tour, alongside Odette and her gang from Saint-Étienne, Marc the early riser from Le Sully, Coco the crazy parrot from Chez Rocky and Liliane the centenarian patroness from the Jura.