Eternal pollution
Two years after the revelations of a television documentary revealing massive contamination with eternal pollutants in the water, air and soil of the Chemistry Valley, an industrial area south of Lyon, what will be the impacts of this announcement on its inhabitants? Any resemblance to the C8 crisis at DuPont de Nemours in the United States is not accidental. Perfluorinated chemical compounds, widely used in industry, have proven harmful effects on health. In France, only five factories manufacture them, including two in Pierre-Bénite, one belonging to the French group Arkema, the other to the Japanese Daikin. Faced with the environmental and health scandal affecting this area where more than 200,000 people live, many citizens and local actors, deeming state measures insufficient, are mobilizing. Some take their own water and soil samples. Others worry about their state of health, faced with the wall of “insufficient scientific knowledge”.
Work carried out jointly with journalist Estelle Levresse / Collectif Relief
Bastien Doudaine
Bastien Doudaine is a French photojournalist who develops a documentary approach on social, health and environmental subjects. Initially qualified in general medicine, working in an office allows him to stay in close contact with the feelings of humanity and to nourish his photographic work. Distributed by Hans Lucas, he is also mentored by the Item collective. At the end of 2023, he co-founded the Relief collective with three other journalists.
Exhibition presented free of charge in the 1912 Building of La Pulperie.
Exhibition presented within the framework of the Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay.
For more information on the Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay, consult the zoomphotofestival.ca