In the Forecourt

portrays my children in their own world—the stark yet fragile divide between childhood and the real world of puberty and adolescence. In the world of children, there is no sense of time: they exist entirely in the present moment, with no past or future while they play. Reality and fantasy are not strictly separated.

My photographs do not depict their fantasies directly; instead, they evoke an atmosphere that suggests this private world. By placing them in carefully chosen environments, and through the interplay of light and darkness, the images reveal something of the children’s inner lives.

“In Claire Felicie’s photographs, the children are autonomous beings: vulnerable in their childishness, yet strong in their authenticity—vital and dynamic, but also still and contemplative.” — Herman Hoeneveld