The Cartoucherie district in Toulouse is a place steeped in history, shaped by the once-flourishing arms industry that employed over 1,500 people on site. The area still bears witness to this activity in its existing urban fabric, the preserved buildings—particularly its very large warehouse—and their interconnectedness, the public spaces, the interior atmospheres, and their interrelationships. This series is based on the combined perspectives of three Toulouse photographers: Luc Adolphe, Frédéric Bonneaud, and Loïc Adolphe. During two successive visits, they were granted access to the Cartoucherie Warehouse site, a place in transition following the departure of industrial activity and before its new life at the heart of the Cartoucherie eco-district. It is a space both rich in history and a space in flux.

These photographers played the role of archaeologists, excavating these remains, reconstructing signs of past existences and ultimately the entire life of a society. This society, geared towards progress and modernity, created and then disdained this place. Humanity abandons it, but sometimes nature intervenes and reclaims its space.

From Eugène Atget to Walker Evans, by way of Alfred Stieglitz, Germaine Krull, André Kertész, László Moholy-Nagy, Man Ray, and Brassaï… discarded objects and spaces have constantly inspired photographers. By immortalizing these remnants, these photographers give them a second life; these relics then appear dignified in their vulnerability, in the fragility of their bygone beauty, in the revelation of the wear and tear of time, in the blossoming of their patina. Still lifes sculpted by the movement of time and light.

This photographic project is structured around two main lines of inquiry. Firstly, we explore the concept of site memory, the memory of industrial activity that has profoundly marked the buildings and their surroundings. We highlight the traces left by these activities and by the people who lived there: a form of industrial archaeology.

In a second phase, we explore a more subjective aspect of the site; we attempt to convey through photography the vast spaces left by the various industrial periods of the area, how they connect, and how they interact. In short, we try to capture the unique atmosphere and ambiance of a place in transition, a place between two states, a place both steeped in the past and brimming with promise and future projects. We leave it to the viewers to imagine what the past might have been and what the future holds for this territory through the images we present.