Windows in Lockdown

Methodology

The functioning of the challenge “Windows in lockdown” was very simple. During the short authorized outings, in France, Italy and elsewhere, everyone was asked to take close-up and landscape photographs of the messages posted by shopkeepers in their windows, by passers-by on city walls or by residents on their balconies. Then, these photos had to be published on one of the digital spaces of expression proposed to the participants: on the Facebook groups “Vitrines en confinement – Vetrine in quarantena” or “Windows in lockdown”; on Twitter using the hashtag #vitrinesenconfinement; on Instagram with the same hashtag and on a collaborative mapping platform. This multiplicity of spaces was thought to offer each person wishing to participate a place where they could be comfortable. Moreover, the use of social media had the objective of creating a community around the challenge by facilitating the construction of social ties and a competitive spirit.

Each time, in addition to the photograph, the contributor had to specify: the date the photograph was taken, the complete address, the nature of the place (business / non-commercial public place / private window / graffiti), the activity usually carried out in this place (café, sport …) and if possible, the transcription of the text of the poster. In this way each image was enriched with a series of temporal, spatial and typological metadata which were to be added to the information concerning the contributor whose name identity, and thus gender, is generally known.