Plan américain

At a time when the notion of toxic masculinity is shattering stereotypical representations, following up on the work initiated in the Arab world (Mectoub 2012/2016), this new series is devoted to the United States territory.

The will to be oneself, sowing trouble in gender by affirming one's differences in a deeply binary and patriarchal society, is a political act. For men today, to be vulnerable and speak their truth, is an act of rebellion. My work exists to fuel this rebellion.

"Plan américain", which explores how masculinity is experienced and expressed by the younger generation in the U.S. today, seeks to influence our imagination and our understanding of a notion that eludes simple definition through endless variations.

In a country with an increasingly precarious political climate, where the rise of a masculinist nationalism is encouraged by a leader promoting the image of a hard and retro virility, I wanted to make visible the presence of a new, de-complexed masculinity, both in cities and small towns.

In early spring 2017, I embark on this adventure, a road trip that will last three years. Trump has been in the White House for three months, America is in crisis and #MeToo hasn't broken out yet. It's under this "administration of discrimination" that I pursue my exploration in search of faces I want to photograph. Men, who at each stop offer the fluid and plural nature of what it means to be a man today.

I always photograph subjects who are involved in this project, choosing specific locations, selected to foster a liberating experience. By focusing on non-conformity and the vulnerabilities of a sex constrained by rigid, oppressive, and outdated gender ideals, my approach which is empathetic, strives to break the myths, with the aim of revealing a broader and more inclusive concept of modern masculinity.

The aesthetics of the road trip is nevertheless present. The natural decors can be watched in every image as a portion of the American landscape. These fragments of landscape or settings - crossings of a fantasy and a reality that comes to collide with it - testify in their interlacing, of the experience of the road trip, to finally offer a representation of Trump's (dis)United-States.

This work, addressing themes of patriarchy, power, sexuality, identity, race, and the female perception of men, considers the necessity for alternative viewpoints in order to reimagining gender identity for today's world, and the reversal of the gaze performed in this artistic experience is accompanied by the desire to subvert an art history itself not much inclusive.

About the title:

The "Plan Américain", as French directors call it, refers to a specific way of framing movies, developed for westerns. It allows viewers to see a character from head to mid-thighs and comes from the necessity to include the character’s gun usually located below the belt, in the shot. Particularly praised by French movie makers, it brings us closer to the subject, whilst showing his or her background. A confrontational perspective, it allows for a greater proximity between the viewer and the character.

The word "plan", part of the French expression: "avoir un plan", means: to have a date, a "rendez-vous".