Between reality and imagination

“The English call the city Marseilles (as plural), and for once they are right: there are many Marseilles or many versions of Marseille”. These words by William Firebrac in his book Marseille Mix perfectly describe the northern Mediterranean metropolis. A mix of several aspects and layers interrelate and overlap to create that complexity. In order to understand how this different mix works together, one should understand the city’s history, culture, language, architecture, planning, and people. I spent the last three months of 2021 in Marseille trying to examine and investigate the city. Wandering for more than 450 kilometers its streets that stretches from the south to the north, crossing it several times and in different times to build my observations. The summary of my research and observations on Marseilles will be in a long read: The Stones of Massilia, and it will contain narrative and description in addition to drawings and photographs.

The photographs below are extracts from the original research. These black and white cinematic photographs are intentionally without titles nor captions that it would be possible to let the reader travel and feel the city in serenity.

If you have comments, or would like to share your impressions, I would gladly receive them here. Enjoy the journey!