Marine Peixoto. Bercy Street Workout. Photographies 2020 – 2023

Every day, many people come to train to the street workout playground in the Parc de Bercy located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Medhy is one of them and he is behind a number of projects and initiatives to make the site more than just a sports ground. In May of 2020, he asked Marine Peixoto to come photograph the place.

Her practice followed the rhythm of the ground – just as some people do push-ups and pull-ups – Marine Peixoto carried an intensive photo shoot. “Pushing” means sculpting yourself everyday, shaping a work of art. Routine, the repetition of training sessions and the seasonal cycle tested her determination to “occupy the present”. The process forced her to constantly freshen her point of view on the same space. This exhaustion of a place and a way of seeing is a relentless act of faith in others and in oneself.

Shaped from this accumulated photographic material since 2020, the installation at Le BAL brings together over 200 prints.