Nowadays, the French youth living in the working-class areas is for a large part Muslim and from the African continent. They build the multicultural French society. These young people are an evidence of present times. They are an indication for the future. “A French youth” doesn’t want to give a naïve and optimistic picture of reality. Its main aim is to deal with reality, shed light on these unknown faces and share the everyday life of youth from French poor areas. Following an imaginary line running from the Northern districts of Amiens to the Northern neighbourhoods of Marseille, through suburbs in Paris and Lyon, “A French youth” picks up, step by step, through encounters, the issues young people have to face.

It’s true that many of them experience a routine violence from an early age.
Young inhabitants from Pyat quarter called “Guirri” formed a gangsta rap band. The lyrics of their songs describe young dealers’s everyday life. They are aged between 17 and 22. They run their own drug deals and they are familiar with street fights, but at the same time they try to build a future for their rap group. They are even models for children, like Béné from Lyon who follows them on Facebook. A lot of young people are more or less involved with unlawful activities. Sometimes, they are involved in smuggling narcotics for a few euro but the rest of the time, they attend school or try to find employment with difficulty.

Zine Collection No. 22 “A French Youth” by Hervé Lequeux

Limited Edition of 200 copies with a C-print signed by the artist

18x25 cm

Published in November 2015 by Editions Bessard