l’almont
“our neighbourhood is called l’almont”
The collective text written by the participants to open the exhibition.
Our neighbourhood is called l’Almont. It is the biggest in Melun and we are 15 minutes from the centre. The neighbourhood is known for its blocks and towers. It was built in the early 70s. In the neighbourhood we have a shopping centre, primary and secondary schools, parks, a river, sports halls, the Boussole, which is a community centre and a library, we have a medical practice with a single doctor and also SOS Médecins.
In l’Almont there are people from everywhere, the neighbours are mostly friendly. The atmosphere is warm in some places and in others it feels like a quiet commuter estate. It is a family neighbourhood and a young one. We all know each other and the children go to the same schools from nursery to secondary. Families help each other out.
In our neighbourhood we like that there is solidarity, that people are outside, that they talk to each other and that there is life. We like that it is lively and that there are local shops. We are next to the villages and we can go for walks there. In summer there are festivals and village fêtes not far away. There are lots of castles nearby when you set out from l’Almont. We like the Boussole, having a library and a community centre close by. We like the sports halls, the pitches and the sports grounds. We like our shops and the summer activities. We like the efforts that have been made to keep things clean. We like that it feels open and airy.
We don’t like that there are fewer and fewer trees, that there are very few activities for young people from the age of 12 apart from the pitches and the Espace Jeunes youth centre. We don’t like that there are no activities for adults. We don’t like that there is drug dealing.
If we could change things in our neighbourhood we would put in a big park with lots of activities and facilities (a skatepark, games, ping-pong and picnic tables). We would add a crèche to give mums a break, we would bring back the post office or set up a France Services office. We would like an internet café, a swimming pool, fountains and water games.
During this project we did mapping, photography and street interviews. We went out to meet people and we walked around l’Almont. We wanted to show that l’Almont is life, and not just the towers.
— the workshop participants, 2024
telling before transforming
In 2024, mOst developed its first project in Melun with La Boussole community centre and library. The format was a “Point de vue”, at the crossroads of arts education, media education and field inquiry: enabling residents to produce a sensitive representation of their neighbourhood from their own uses, memories, routes and perceptions.
Subjective mapping opened the work. Everyone drew their own map of l’Almont; the maps were discussed until a collective map emerged. Photography extended this reading of the territory: an introduction to framing, point of view and composition, walks built from the map, part of the images shot on film. Sound was the third material of the inquiry: recording, interviews, meetings with other residents of the neighbourhood. Finally, a time for writing and mediation — selecting the images, writing the captions and presentation texts — prepared how the work would be shown to the public.
This first year established three things: a working relationship with La Boussole, a first residents’ archive of l’Almont, and a method for turning the observation of a neighbourhood into artistic and documentary material.
the collective map
the places they told
Photographs chosen and captioned by the people who took them. The titles and texts are theirs — click on a place to go there.
titles and captions by the participants, as they wrote them (in French), with a translation
It’s more or less the view I have from my office window. It’s not a mountain landscape but I’m attached to it. Many of the families who come to the Boussole live here. I like running into them. I chose this photo because it’s familiar.
I remember lots of things in this park, like sport with school, picnics with my best friend, family barbecues, and walks with my mother too. I chose this place because it deserves to be visited and recognised for what it is: the green heart of Melun.
In this street you can see the road stretching out with cars, letterboxes and the new houses. In the distance you can see a tower. I like the new part of l’Almont.
I remember, that’s where I go to play football or basketball with my friends. One day my ball fell into the woods. I chose this photo because I play on the pitch.
In this photo you can see two buildings, bushes, the road and the pedestrian crossing. I like this photo, it’s well taken.
It’s beneath these windows that we walk past and set ourselves up when we organise events outside our walls. I like it when curious faces appear behind the windows, and even more when people end up coming down to join us. I chose this photo because it is full of promise.
An afternoon in the park. It reminds me of picnics every summer with families from l’Almont. While the parents are busy, the children run around the park and enjoy the playground.
I like spending time at the three towers with my friends, chatting. I also like my children playing there. They ride scooters and bikes at the foot of the towers. Before, there was the café city, and we went there for coffee; the kids played and ate. This place makes me nostalgic.
There is a huge contrast between these neat new houses with their gardens and the towers of the neighbourhood. I wish the newcomers all the best. I hope they settle in well and that bonds are formed. I chose this photo because you can clearly see the old and the new side by side.
From Elie’s flat. A flat in his image, which I find very beautiful and incredible. There is a lovely view of La Défense and, from another window, of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.
That’s where my big brothers go. In the photo you can see the school, which is yellow, and some railings.
There is a good tree next to the building. You can see balconies. The building has lots of windows. The leaves of the tree are many colours. Some balconies have flowers. I think this photo is beautiful.
I like the canteen because we eat very good things there, like on the last day of school when we had a cheeseburger with chips.
There are two windows, the door, the doorbell and a lamp. I like the framing of this photo.
It’s a place where I go to play. Then I sit on this bench. And there I feel calm. There is a wood and I like looking at the trees. I chose this photo because it’s pretty.
There are big branches and small ones. You can see leaves of different colours. There is also grass and a river. I like the woods.
My school is good. We work well and we play well there. I can play with all my friends. There is a beautiful flag in front of the school.
Every evening I meet my sisters on this bench to talk. I love the energy of this place. I only have very good memories here.
I often come to Exo’City and to the bakery just behind it. I chose this photo because it has beautiful, warm colours.
A small family park. Meeting other parents. Children crying and shouting.
I know the Boussole well: there is a free library, there are books, tables, computers and activities.
portraits on film
Residents photographed in black and white during the walks through the neighbourhood.
our sound pieces
Street interviews and ambiences recorded in l’Almont by the participants, after an introduction to sound recording and interviewing.
the exhibition at la boussole
The exhibition “les échos de l’almont” was installed at La Boussole on 8 January 2025, following the 2024 workshop sequence. Around three hundred people saw it on the premises of the community centre and library.
Framed photographs set on wooden crates, captioned panels, the collective map on the wall: the exhibition gives back to the neighbourhood what was produced there. The printed elements would then serve as posters to announce the next project — which would take the esplanade as its subject.
