Photo Days 2025: Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Pitié-Salpêtrière
Julie Balagué: Anatomie de l’invisible
For its first collaboration with the Chapelle Saint‑Louis at the Pitié‑Salpêtrière hospital, Photo Days invites Julie Balagué to present her new series [translate:Anatomie de l’invisible]. The artist explores the phenomenon of pregnancy denial, a rarely discussed topic beyond news reports. She offers a social, political, and sensitive reflection on how women’s bodies are perceived and treated in society.
Over seven years, Julie Balagué conducted an extensive inquiry with women who experienced this extreme physiological condition, often connected to past trauma or internalized societal pressures. She gathers their testimonies, juxtaposes them with images, and through photography, attempts to make visible what is usually unseen.
Balagué works at the intersection of documentary and material experimentation, challenging the photographic medium itself: how to depict what remains invisible? How to give form to a hidden experience? Her images, combined with texts and interactive exhibition elements, encourage viewers to shift their perception—both physically and mentally.
Presented within the historic Chapelle Saint-Louis of the Pitié-Salpêtrière, this work echoes the history of the site. Founded during the reign of Louis XIV, the Salpêtrière was traditionally a place of confinement for poor, ill, or “hysterical” women.
"Photo Days invites Julie Balagué to present her new series Anatomie de l’invisible, exploring pregnancy denial through a social, political, and sensitive lens."
Her approach reveals how photography can articulate deeply buried experiences, prompting a reconsideration of visibility and representation.
Author's summary: Julie Balagué's exhibit at the Chapelle Saint-Louis challenges societal views on invisible women's experiences through a compelling blend of photography and narrative.