Photography as a Mise-en-Scène of the Cafes of a Popular Neighborhood in Paris

Abstract

The cafes of a working-class district of Paris, the Belleville district, were the subject of scientific research in socio-photography on the social function of these establishments and the staging of the various actors in the place. Various customers, whether passing through or regulars, French or foreigners or from an immigrant background, the “patrons” of the cafés develop collective or individual social practices that photography helps to memorise and show in a sensitive manner. What is a “good” photograph in sociology? Some elements of an answer are given here, based on the principle that the image is the matrix of a social relationship. The photographs of these cafés were in fact taken as a function of the relationship experienced with the subjects photographed.