From Kim Yaroshevskaya to Normand Beausoleil, man of the woods, via Marcel Sabourin and his wife, Françoise Plessis-Bélair, Jacques Nadeau stops time around 80 encounters in his most recent work, Venerables. So many sensitive souls who advance with small, slow steps full of courage, confidence and well-being.
If the idea of devoting his work to humans who are on average 92 years old took shape two years ago, when he was beginning his 33e and last year at the newspaper DutyJacques Nadeau has always been interested in the words of his predecessors, of those who blazed the trail, and he has always been respectful of their testimony. From Montreal, where he talks on the phone, he remembers his beginnings at The Canadian Press, where he learned a lot by observing the oldest people at work. Observation is what he did throughout his career and which constitutes the essence of this work of photos in which he celebrates the elders, as he likes to call them, 80 well-known and lesser-known people. of the general public.
But unlike the speed of execution dictated by his career as a photojournalist, here he rather let himself be carried away by slowness, listening to these larger-than-life characters and taking their pulse. “I observed them first, without taking a photo. For an hour, I just listened to them. […] J‘I took the time to observe them, take notes a little, but not that much, and, at the end, I took some photos. I had to do something different from what has already been done on very old people. »
He therefore discarded the idea of doing interviews and, instead, let these people speak. “I love journalists and the texts they can write, but you will read Céline’s text, damn it! » he says, visibly touched by this meeting with Céline Reny-Chevalot, 87 years old, and her partner, Ovid Avarmaa, 104 years old, a couple before the eternal who savors each moment of everyday life, like the “eighth day of the week that does not exist on the calendar.
He will thus let himself be transported by the presence and words of these 80 people, each as luminous, astonishing and magical as the next. He recounts in particular his visit to Kim Yaroshevskaya, with great emotion, still transported by this precious meeting: “I stayed with her and let her speak so that she was at ease. Towards the end, she went to get her notebook — she had just written a story, another one, at 100 years old. […] I saw myself again at 8 years old listening to Fanfreluche tell me a story […] And at the end, before leaving, I gave him two little kisses. I was completely shaken, as if I had just fallen in love. I don’t know what happened. But what does she have inside of her? She is extraordinary […] I loved writing about these people. I liked it very, very much. »
It is certain that they are physically fragile, but they have inner strength, very strong intellectual and emotional autonomy. […] You sit next to them, you look at them, and something happens. You don’t just see the facade of being human. You see inside.
Joint force
What she has inside of her seems to be this thread that unites each of the ancestors present in this Venerablesin this case an instinct for life, the energy to move forward with small, slow but assured steps. At least that’s what Jacques Nadeau observed during these two years.
“Of course they are physically fragile, but they have inner strength, very strong intellectual and emotional autonomy. […] You sit next to them, you look at them, and something happens. You don’t just see the facade of being human. You see inside. They let themselves be seen. There is no more game got there. Life is important, and they try to go as far as possible, in a state of well-being, even if physically it is difficult. You know, just getting up in the morning for some people, going from bed to the kitchen, it’s complicated, but they have an inner strength that is incredible,” explains Jacques Nadeau, admiringly.
He recounts in passing the meeting with Olga, 90 years old, just arrived from Ukraine, speaking neither English nor French, but who gets by, moves forward, carried by an instinct for life which has nothing to do with instinct. of survival, he emphasizes.
A different context, but a similar principle is experienced by Fernande Bélanger-Coulombe, 105 years old, who now lives in a CHSLD: “She is in her right mind. We walked around the CHSLD, it’s not easy, it takes incredible strength […] that of not being disturbed by the surroundings. You know, we live in a somewhat negative period, I think, unfortunately, but these people are not disturbed by that. It’s a personal, spiritual connection […] all the characters are a bit like that. »
Trust in humans
This strength to live, to savor each precious moment while accepting the more trying passages is part of the legacy that these elders left to Jacques Nadeau. Giving confidence to the next generation of which he is a part is at the heart of this journey in photos, as is giving the desire to continue. “We must not run away from the difficulties we have experienced in our lives, we must return to them. That’s when we appreciate life, I think […] “, he emphasizes.
Noting in passing the presence of Poles, Ukrainians and Russians in his work, he underlines the extent to which some have had difficult lives, worked hard, but specifies that he never felt among them the need to complain. The author and photographer describes how these elderly people are truly living people, endowed with powerful emotional intelligence, courage and an enviable depth of soul: “You have to be autonomous all your life. Make decisions for yourself, be able to say: “this is what would do me good” […] I don’t want to preach, but let’s have faith in human beings. He has extremely great abilities,” he concludes sensitively.