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“L’Une et l’Autre” presents the work of fifteen women who, during workshops organised by the association “100 Voices !”, set off to explore their own identities. They share the fact that at some stage in their lives, they have had to face some kind of severe hardship… illness, the insurmountable loss of a mother, father or child, the betrayal by a loved one, problems with wayward parents, domestic violence, rape, exile or detention.They have survived but are broken people, overwhelmed by a myriad of feelings that conspire to rob them of their individuality. Their own loss of self confidence is compounded by a loss of confidence in others, pride has given way to shame, while worry and doubt only encourage feelings of powerlessness and resignation. They have all, at one moment or another, lived on the street, that open prison from which escape is impossible and where time stops for ever. Most of these photographers live at the Women’s Heart Hostel, which takes in homeless women of all ages. Others are housed at the Suzanne Képès Hostel, which caters for women who are victims of violence, or at the Olive Tree, which cares for the long-term homeless. These three residences are run by Aurore, an association created by 100 Voices !The recovery of your self-esteem is a critical step when you suffer from social exclusion. In a world where social success is proportional to personal freedom and self esteem, anyone who loses any of these attributes through accidents of life risks losing his or her identity. Even though the identity papers may be in order, the photo that they bear is that of a stranger with an empty soul. The process is like a vertiginous fall in which your identity becomes gradually fuzzier until it is replaced by the image of how society sees you : an image of a person who is dependent on welfare, a social pariah, an image further degraded by a sentiment of failure, an image that underlines the extent to which you have been banished from the community. « L’Une et l’Autre » shows how photography can help you to change your view of yourself and of the world around you. It is a lesson for life.