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When he was a boy, Nicolas Henry learned a lot from his grandparents. Strong bonds were formed by sharing creative activities, like the art of woodworking, practiced with his Grandfather, and that of sewing taught by his Grandmother. Later, as an adult, he was drawn back to this loving couple, wanting to relive some of these magic moments when gestures spoke louder than words, and consequently, The play houses of our grand parents project was born. This unique project took him all around the world, from France to Easter Island, with stops in India, Brazil, Jordan, New Zealand and South Africa... just to name a few. Along the journey, the project evolved into a very colorful traveling show, the Playhouses becoming stages welcoming vocal and Visual expression, illumination in all its forms, and providing a natural platform for rich exchange within the community. Over a span of five years Nicolas Henry produced over four hundred portraits in forty different countries. Eighty-two works from this series are collected here. With each Grandparent, a Playhouse was built using familiar day-to-day objects to reflect Personal stories and imaginary or symbolic worlds : a helicopter fish telling of a miraculous bow and arrow fishing trip in Vanuatu ; a skyscraper produced from odds and ends in a Shanghai building site ; a four-poster bed for drifting to sleep in the salt deserts beneath a full moon. Echoing each photo, the Grandparents recount their stories, generously revealing a small part of their worlds and lives. Kings and queens for a day, these grandparents teach us that joy and creation are the best weapons we have to fight the tragedy of human conditions. The sincere joy expressed on the faces in the portraits is the kind of emotionally charged gaze we share with the ones we love, reminding us of the human being's extraordinary ability to truly and courageously engage with one another.
