Les Protestants is a “home video”. Following the events that structure the community as they arise (discussion group, celebration, wedding, gathering, etc.) the artist questions members of her immediate family. She evokes questions concerning identity and religion, as well as social and generational questions: the young ones are scouts, as there elders were before them; the parents remember the gatherings of their sheltered youth; the grandfather evokes his taste for the assiduous practice of gymnastics. The generations are woven together and each tightens and loosens the ties to this identity. The video is characterised by a gentle approach, and rather than bringing a critical or fascinated gaze to bear on the protestant bourgeois class she grew up in, Clarisse Hahn strives to imperceptibly broach the borders between personal/familial space and the outside world. She does not hide her camera, the images are not stolen; she instead favours a certain notion of restraint and sobriety.

“Obviously it is not a matter of undertaking ethnographic research, but above all of capturing atmospheres and assembling portraits. As with all of my work, the body plays a central role: constrained in various ways, showcased, manipulated, hidden... Modified by a series of professional movements or stiffened by attitudes dictated by a social role.”

Once again striking a balance between involvement and distance, the artist examines the values that govern the life of individuals, a community structured by its own codes, rituals, rhythm, economy, and aesthetic – which are notably conveyed by the relationship of each individual to their own body.