Cha Gonzalez
Born in Lebanon. Lives and works in Paris, France
www.cha-gonzalez.format.com
Abandon
Abandon is a project I started in 2010 during my diploma project for the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, which I did in Lebanon. There, I wanted to talk about the war in an indirect way, and I had photographed young people, at night. There was a strong connection for me that I did not yet understand.
Seven years later, I’ve clarified my intentions. Through the parties, I talk about our inner wars, our need to flee reality, to have intense experiences, to find warmth – to fill a feeling of dissatisfaction, of sexual frustration, of lack of love, of solitude. In war as at parties, social codes are set aside, we feel ourselves existing. Are these feelings tangible? The party, in its self-destructive side, can do exactly the opposite of what its enthusiasts come in search of.
The selection I present here is the chapter on those in love, or those in search of physical contact, with their partner or with strangers, friends or lovers. Parties are also a space for desires and encounters, with emotions intensified by fatigue, alcohol, or drugs. A space of freedom, where we can love, touch, feel, discover ourselves – without fear of being judged.
That is how I wanted to approach these parties, without judging, with a particular attention to the tenderness I sometimes found there.
