It was at the media library that I met Gilles, then Eric. Or maybe it was the other way round. With their messy hair, old-fashioned clothes and plastic bags in hand, the twins’ look is bound to attract attention. Everyone in Corbeil-Essonnes seems to have known them forever. It’s bullshit: nobody knows them. They’re as crazy as their jumpers, that’s for sure. But the few brave people who have approached them have all been struck by their insatiable artistic curiosity. Not to mention their rock culture, which makes you dizzy. They were generous enough to let me into their lives for the duration of my residency. During almost a year of seeing each other, a mutual trust and attachment was established. They let me photograph just about anything I wanted. Initially the subjects of the photographic series, they gradually became the models and accomplices.” R.P.

A collection of photographs taken 2003-09 over much of the United States.

The title, Pursuit, echoes the Declaration of Independence of the U.S. refering to the right of everyone to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. The scope to which the author has chosen to focus is double with one side of the American middle class that lives the American dream and the other left behind who aspire to this account same ideal, but without ever reaching it. In parallel to the photographic series the author has transcribed his account of his meetings.

By confronting his imagination and experience, Richard Pak turns to the field of fiction to deliver a vision that is both cynical and full of empathy for one idealized country.