Since the 17th century, the National Institution of Invalides (INI) in Paris has housed a hospital where residents live. War invalids, the 25-year-old veterans meet there veterans of the Second World War, Indochina or Algeria and recently victims of attacks.
As part of the development of its policy devoted to the memory and history of the Hôtel des Invalides, the Musée de l’Armée set up a photographic commission in 2017 on the National Institution of Invalides. Entrusted to Philippe de Poulpiquet, this gave rise to a photographic report focused on the medical function of the Hotel and focusing on the men and women who live and work on the south side of the Invalides. For a year, the photographer immersed himself in the daily life of the Institution – a place of care, of life, but also of death – and reveals the permanence of its historical and memorial dimensions. Built like a photographic chronicle, this report follows the people who bring this place to life: veterans wounded in combat during decolonization wars or in Afghanistan, civilian victims of attacks, hospital staff, military authorities …
At the Invalides, under the watchful eye of Philippe de Poulpiquet, these men and women become the bruised flesh of a country marked by the wounds of war.