La Loire by Benoît Chailleux
This ongoing series, started in 2009, documents thelinear territory along the riverside in my hometown and tries to show the conflicting relationships between Nantes and its river.
Nantes was formed along La Loire. The port has long been the main reason for the development of the city. (The triangular trade made its fortune until the eighteenth century). The port was livened up by the loading and unloading ships and by shipyards until the 80's. Now, boats with drafts ever deeper have to dock at St Nazaire, more downstream.
Also, Nantes was called the Venice of the West because of the amount of river arms and islands, but in the early twentieth century, many Loire arms were filled to make way for the cars and traffic.
Today, the areas along La Loire do not have the function for which they were built. They have become residual spaces although they are the heart of the city. The purpose of this series is to depict these linear altered territories and to reveal the atmosphère afforded by water. Sometimes ghosts of the past fly up the stream.
Benoît Chailleux lives and works in Nantes, France.
To view more of Benoît's work, please visit his website.
