TOUJOURS A SA FENETRE 2010 / A poetic vision in stop-motion

Toujours a sa Fenetre / A poetic vision in stop motion

“Toujours a sa Fenetre” is a stop-motion film created over several months from the same apartment window in Paris. Rather than travelling through the city, the project remains fixed in a single location, transforming an ordinary window into an observatory from which time, movement and everyday life gradually unfold. The film documents the continuous transformation of the same urban landscape and reflects on the passing of time, the fragility of human existence and the poetry hidden within ordinary moments.

At the time, I was living in the heart of Paris with a view overlooking the area where the Canal Saint-Martin reaches the Seine. This busy crossroads never truly stopped moving. Day and night, it functioned as a living organism where pedestrians, vehicles, bicycles and public life continuously intersected. Instead of searching for extraordinary events, I became interested in the uninterrupted flow of everyday existence.

The project required patience rather than movement. For months, I repeatedly photographed exactly the same view from the same position. Every sequence became part of a much larger temporal composition. Individually, the photographs record ordinary moments. Combined through stop-motion animation, they reveal patterns that remain almost invisible in real time.

The city appears in constant motion. Endless streams of cars move through the intersection before disappearing again. Traffic slows, accelerates and reorganises itself without interruption. The repetitive circulation becomes almost rhythmic, suggesting the mechanical pulse of urban life.

Alongside this everyday traffic, exceptional moments emerge naturally within the film. Demonstrations cross the streets, temporarily transforming the familiar landscape into a space of collective expression. On other days, large groups of roller skaters occupy the roads during the famous Sunday gatherings in Paris, replacing cars with entirely different forms of movement. These changing occupations constantly redefine the same urban space.

Nature also plays a fundamental role in the animation. The changing seasons gradually alter the appearance of the city. Rain softens the atmosphere before giving way to bright skies. Snow temporarily transforms the familiar streets into unfamiliar landscapes. Sunsets colour the horizon while nights slowly replace daylight before morning begins the cycle once again.

Construction sites introduce another layer of transformation. Protective sheets fixed to scaffolding move violently with the wind, becoming almost abstract forms within the composition. These temporary architectural elements reinforce the idea that cities are never complete but remain permanently under construction, renovation and change.

The stop-motion technique compresses several months into only a few minutes. Time itself becomes the principal subject of the work. What normally unfolds slowly over seasons is condensed into a continuous visual flow where weather, architecture and human activity constantly replace one another.

Unlike documentary filmmaking, the objective is not to record specific events but to reveal the invisible rhythms of everyday urban life. By maintaining exactly the same point of view throughout the project, even the smallest changes become meaningful. The fixed camera transforms ordinary movement into visual choreography.

The film is accompanied by an original musical composition created by my longtime friend Vincent Baudry. His soundtrack plays an essential role in shaping the emotional atmosphere of the work. Rather than illustrating the images directly, the music creates a contemplative space that allows viewers to experience the slow passage of time with greater sensitivity.

The dialogue between image and music reinforces the poetic dimension of the project. Together they encourage observation rather than narration. The city becomes less a place of action than a place of continuous transformation where every passing moment immediately gives way to another.

Beyond documenting Paris, the project also reflects on the notion of vanitas. Human activity appears constant yet temporary. Thousands of anonymous individuals cross the intersection during the months of filming, each pursuing their own destination before disappearing from view forever. Their accumulation reveals both the vitality of the city and the fleeting nature of individual existence like i did after with “Every Day Life” project.

Watching the city from a window also becomes an act of contemplation. Spending time at one’s window is often associated with waiting, observing or simply allowing thoughts to unfold. In this sense, the project becomes a personal meditation on attention and presence. Rather than constantly moving through the city, the film suggests that remaining still can reveal an equally rich experience of urban life.

Looking back, Toujours a sa Fenetre captures much more than a particular place in Paris. It preserves a fragment of daily life that can never be repeated in exactly the same way. Buildings evolve, traffic changes, seasons return differently each year and the people appearing in the film continue their own journeys long after the final frame. Through patient observation and stop-motion animation, the work invites viewers to slow down, breathe and reconsider the quiet beauty hidden within the ordinary passage of time.

 

Toujours a sa fenetre / Musique: Vincent Baudry Images: iKanoGrafik / Hommage aux temps passés à ma fenêtre… / Voici également ma première version qui date de 2007, toujours à ma fenêtre…