Mohamed Bourouissa's Poetic Realities: From Périphérique to Légende

Selected for the Dynasty exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Palais de Tokyo, as well as the 2010 Berlin Biennale, Mohamed Bourouissa gained recognition for his photographic stagings. His series Périphérique, shot in the suburbs of La Courneuve, Pantin, Clichy-Montfermeil, Argenteuil, and Le Mirail in Toulouse, involved local residents and captures moments just before a drama, using an 'emotional geometry' to express tensions. In his Écrans series, Bourouissa shifts to documenting smashed televisions, breaking from staged beauty toward low-tech, functional methods. His film Temps mort is a co-creation with JC, an inmate, using mobile phone videos exchanged between prison and the outside world, revealing the parallel universes of incarceration and freedom without sensationalism. His latest film, Légende, shot in the Barbès district of Paris, examines the illegal cigarette trade 'American Legend' through multiple perspectives, using micro-cameras worn by sellers to flip the typical documentary gaze. Bourouissa's work blends poetic and sociological reflection, immersing viewers in a plurivocal reality.