From February 4, the Châteauroux tourist office will have the pleasure of once again hosting the exhibition “Châteauroux photos d'hier” in its Salle des Ambassadeurs and invites you to rediscover the city's past through around sixty archive images.
“Châteauroux photos d’hier”: the story of a community dedicated to the past of Châteauroux and its inhabitants
As is often the case, the small story meets the big one. The small one is that of Jean-Christophe Vernet, a passionate Castelroussin, in love with his city, the riches it has to offer and those still hidden in the meanders of its past. While he sets out in search of photos of the house that his grandfather once occupied on Avenue des Marins, this amateur photographer with a keen eye discovers many old photographs in his personal and family archives. Jean-Christophe then naturally decides to share them with as many people as possible because " they belong to the heritage of Châteauroux and its inhabitants ».
The idea germinated, it would never leave him and on April 29, 2014, the Facebook group "Châteauroux photos d'hier" was born. A choice of digital platform that was obvious to Jean-Christophe who wanted to allow everyone to easily discover these photos, share them and appropriate the past that they trace. " Nowadays, everyone is on social media. " he tells us.
What started as a small adventure on a human scale, with invitations sent to the closest friends, has today become a real institution, well known to the connected Castelroussins, but not only! There are now more than 15 members, based in no less than 500 different countries, to bring to life this group that Jean-Christophe wanted to be an intergenerational place for sharing, exchanges and memories… The group celebrated its tenth anniversary last April, what better way to celebrate it than with a bang with this exhibition!
Jean-Christophe does not hide his emotion at seeing to what extent the people of Châteauroux have taken ownership of this group, its content and the formidable human and social network that has been created around it. Every day, nearly twenty documents are posted on the group and he must moderate and validate them. He can count in particular on the participation and unwavering loyalty of those he considers to be " pillars of the group and real wells of culture »: Messrs. Guny and Garofalo, whose numerous contributions reflect the information they enjoy sharing: complete, precise and passionate!
From personal collections, from the funds of the Châteauroux municipal archives or the departmental archives and from any other source that should obviously be identified, these images found and shared are a wonderful testimony to the love of the people of Châteauroux for their city, whether they are still there or have since sailed towards other horizons.
A duo exhibition
Driven by an ever-increasing desire to offer a wide audience access to the images and archives compiled on his group, it was quite natural for Jean-Christophe to suggest to the Châteauroux tourist office that we create an exhibition on the subject together.
Around fifty photographs were carefully selected by Jean-Christophe before being printed on dibond plates by Laserphot. They will adorn the walls of the ambassadors' room of the tourist office, offering visitors and locals alike a wonderful journey through time. An opportunity to observe the evolution of the urban landscape of Châteauroux around the city's emblematic monuments that have stood the test of time.
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