While the 2021 lockdown was about to end in France I was invited to participate in the Festival Planche Contact artist residency program on the coastline city of Deauville. I quickly decided to turn my focus and interest towards the youth after several months of solitary confinement during COVID-19. Torn between their need for freedom, often defying authority and academic demands, teenagers have experienced the ordeal of confinement with emotions and priorities specific to their age. The conditions of lockdown were uneven between young people, some of them impacting their mental health. Some teens experienced stress, anxiety, while others developed more social and supportive behaviours.
The size of the accommodation, the availability of parents or the access to the internet has influenced the way teenagers have experienced confinement. This crisis is therefore once again indicative of social inequalities. A youth suffering from the health crisis and not clearly perceiving the prospects for the future. For the majority of them, maintaining environmental objectives must be the government's priority in the coming months. The paradigm shift of the new generations, plagued by eco-anxiety, is once again being heard.
After several months of passivity, they are once again living a certain form of autonomy and freedom. They come to find themselves with candor and proximity on the Normandy coast to see a horizon for a future that is still uncertain.
