The Crescent Project - Oscar B. Castillo's Portfolio

THE CRESCENT PROJECT

This project aims to be a deep exploration inside the world of religions in France, having Islam as a horizontal axis to navigate the current French society, its religious multidirectional relationships, and the many faces that compose this complex, but not always accepted, reality. The France of today has been built by long years of racial, political, cultural, and even spiritual métissage. France currently is and has been for more time than it wants to recognize, a place of high diversity, where very different backgrounds have contributed to a particular multilayered but neglected identity. But in the highest levels of sociopolitical thinking, there is a unilateral vision that is trying to prevail. The France of “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” is not treating all its sons and daughters with the same care and under the same banner.

As a secular society, France sees religious manifestations as something limited to private spaces, consciously ignoring that many different sectors of the society have an entirely different approach to the expressions of faith and how this profession of faith is often linked to public expressions in daily life without being conflictive or menacing. But those limitations have aimed at some specific parts of the social fabric more than at others. Instead of giving a more open approach to the sensitive topic, some leaders have continuously forced hard measures on long parts of society by taking the most radical (and many times harmful) practices as the only reference.

The name of this project is a reference to the symbols that represent the largest monotheistic religions. Each symbol can be used to represent history, culture, knowledge, spiritual quests, and celebrate diversity, or to create division and hatred amongst people in the name of supposed sacred and invisible superior forces. "The Void" is that place in the middle that is unknown, rarely discussed and underappreciated. It could be a neutral zone or, even better, an area of convergence and respect, but it is instead a place where we throw our fear, intolerance, and ignorance.

Through audiovisual mixed media documentation made of traditional photojournalism, still lifes, interventions of images, portraits, and some other documentary approaches, and with the collaboration in the research from local journalist Karim Baouz, I have put together in a very personal way, lives and stories many times seen as parallel, but that play a very important role in the collective life of the country. It was important to constantly move between the bigger dynamics and the micro-local context to link elements seen as isolated or forced to be kept apart, and understand and contribute to the prevention in communities that are under the hovering shadow of Islamophobia, far-right racist ideologists, religious radicalization, antisemitism, and a wide range of extreme ideas.

This project has been developed with the support of the MAGNUM FOUNDATION - On Religion Program.

France, Paris, Islam, Musulman, Arab, Arabian, Maghreb, Islamophobie, Radicalisation, Extremism, Republique, Republic, Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Christ, Allah, Torah, Discrimination, Exclusion, Integration, Refugees

View of a French flag over the City Hall of Le Havre in the French northwest where was taking place a rally claiming justice for the death of Abdoulaye Camara, killed by 10 bullets in the hands of police forces on December 16th, 2014.

Triptych: Nation without people. People without Nation and Nation and People together.

Video animation of one panoramic picture taken on a full medium format roll of the whole platform of Nation subway station in Paris as a representation of the multiple layers of the country.

View of the minaret of the Great Mosque of Paris in France. France counts the biggest Muslim population in Western Europe as well as the highest percentage of Muslims. Their origins are very different being the biggest part originally from Algeria, Tunisia, Marocco, and other former French colonies like Mali.

The sister of Babacar Gueye is seen at a rally claiming justice for her brother killed by police forces with 5 bullets when he had a nervous breakdown and was mutilating himself, one year before in the city of Rennes in the Britanny Region.

AbdulRahman Camara leads the protest asking for justice for his brother Abdoulaye Camara killed on 16th December 2014 with ten bullets by French police forces in Le Havre city in Normandy Region.

Portrait of Mrs Latifah Ibn Ziaten. Mrs Latifah is an activist for peace and inter-religious relations and the mother of Imad Ibn Ziaten that was killed by terrorist Mohamed Merah in 2012 as part of his attacks against security forces and the Jewish community in Toulouse - France.

Youssouf Kadima, 16 years of Congolese and Tchadian parents talks to Mrs Latifah Ibn Ziaten as part of an activity against religious radicalisation and for prevention of violence in France. Youssouf has been taken to the activity by authorities of Juvenile Prison, together with a group of young men in problems with the law.

Nour Boudnaidja, 23 years old, has a discussion with another woman about the meanings and visions on women emancipation and what is her idea of freedom and respect for a french young muslim woman. Nour is an international affairs student with a master in international cooperation.

In Paris young man hears the first discourse of Emmanuel Macron as winner of the first round of presidential elections that virtually gave the victory over extreme right candidate Marine Le Pen.

INTERVENTION - File recovered after being asked to delete the picture by a woman that said her family don't know she goes to the christian church or even that she was in the area of Paris - France.

A young boy takes part at the ultraconservative "Manif pour Tous" rally in central Paris and stands close to stickers by Identity Block, an extreme right group asking to chase the Islamists out of France.

A priest holds the host high as part of the January 1st mass in Saint Ambroise church close to the Bataclan club, one of the places hit by the terrorist attacks of 13th November 2015 in Paris - France.

The Priest of Nanterre Church points at a drawing made by the kids of the parish to show the racial diversity of the community with European, African, Arab and Caribbean origins.

INTERVENTION - On a file asked to be deleted by a member of secret security forces while I was covering the commemoration activities for the assasination by terrorist Amedy Coulibaly of 4 members of the jewish community at a Kosher market. France is home to the third biggest jewish population in the world after United States and Israel.

AbdelGhani Merah, 40 years old, stands for a picture in front of the memorial center for the victims of terrorist attacks in Nice. Abdel Ghani is the older brother of Mohamed Merah, one of the first young islamist terrorist that hit France in 2012 and marked the beggining of attacks by young radicalised french people.

A man leaves the improvised memorial corner at the Hyper Cacher market for the victims of the attack that took place at that jewish market in Paris where islamist terrorist Amedy Coulibaly kidnapped several clients and murdered 4 of them in the days that followed the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

INTERVENTION - File recovered after being forced to delete the pictures by a group of men at the Mosque of Genevilliers area in Paris - France.

Passengers of a subway train (as well as myself who was travelling in the same trian) are seen on the platform after being ordered to evacuate the train and the area because of a menace of bomb.

View of a painting given to Veronique Roy by her brother on the day of the birth of her son Quentin. Quentin converted to Islam and with the time assumed a strict lecture of it and completely changed his habits, not taking part in the family celebrations and asking the mother to take this painting off the wall or turning it face in to hide the image. He later joint the Islamic State in Syria where he supposedly died while committing a Kamikaze attack in Irak.

(L)Aziza Sayah, mother of Sami, stands for a picture at an activity about prevention of radicalization. (R) View of a certificate of death document sent to Ms Aziza Sayah by ISIS, stating the death of Sami in Syria. As the document is not recognized by French authorities Ms Sayah is in a legal limbo about the situation of Sami in France. Sami was a young man to took a radical vision of Islam after a few months of endoctrination by local Takfiri group preaching violence and left to Syria in 2014.

Police officer visit the crime scene in Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris where Xavier Jugele, one of their colleagues was killed the evening before by a terrorist assailant who was later killed at his time.

A relative of a victim of the Bataclan terrorist attacks holds a rose she bring for the memory of a dear one. On November 13th 2015 terrorist groups attacked different areas of Paris and killed more than 130 persons, 89 of them at the Bataclan concert hall. This attacks represented the deadliest terror attacks in France since World War II

Bilal Bley Mokono, a survivor of the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13th 2015, tells his story in the middle of a meeting for the commemoration of the attacks. Mr Mokono was close to a kamikaze in the Stade de France area and as result of the explosion he is today on a wheelchair. He constantly points at the lack of support victims are getting from the government

A woman stands in front of billboards with posters of different presidential candidates for the French elections of 2017.

Remi, 37 years old from Martinica Island, constantly repeats "WE MUST TERRORIZE THE TERRORISTS" and shows a sticker that calls to vote for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Remi was visiting the memorial place at Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris where the night before terrorist Karim Cheurfi, attacked and killed one policeman and wounded 2 others before getting killed too.

Calais - FRANCE. View of the facades of different shacks and makeshift shelters of "The Jungle" refugee camp in Calais - France. Some 5.000 people including children, elderly persons, and many people with different handicaps live in very precarious conditions waiting to try their chance to cross the border towards the UK. Calais is an area known for its cold weather, strong winds, and continuous rains.

Portrait of Mohamed (part of an instant polaroid portrait series about the meaning of The Republic), a 27 years old refugee from Sudan, taken at Place de la République in Paris. When asked to write what is for him the Republic he said "The Republic is a good square where people can come to manifest and demonstrate".

View of the Statue of Marianne with teargas canister exploding all over during a protest against recently elected President Emmanuel Macron takes place in Place de la République square in Paris downtown

Protestors clash with police forces at a demonstration against the election of Emmanuel Macron as President of the country.

From left to right: Syria, Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Irak. The presence of women in the camps of Calais is very rare and due to cultural and religious practices women don't move too often around the camp areas, some women however are seen around, mostly Christians from Erithrea and Ethiopia. In Dunkirk, the female presence is much more evident, mostly Kurdish women from Syria and Irak.

(Part of a series of still-life objects) View of a teared-up French flag that is part of the objects left by visitors in the memorial place in the name of the victims of terrorist attacks in Nice. On July 15th, 2016 Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove an extra heavy way truck over the people that were assisting a public event in Nice, a very tourist place on French Riviera. The attack resulted in the death of at least 86 people from 19 different countries.

Young members of Muslim and Jewish communities light candles and sing typical Jewish songs of celebration to close an inter-religious meeting to discuss cultural and religious aspects and facilitate better understanding and dialogue between the 2 communities.

View of a map where different branches of the story intersect or separate depending on different topics linked to religion, spirituality, social context, political factors, and many other important elements that prominently or in the shadows, conform the France of recent times.