3 gouttes de sang comme une fleur
BY CLEMENT CHAPILLON / YANNICK JAFFRE / FABIEN FOURCAUD
FOR EFS
This project is an initiative by the French Blood Establishment (EFS) and the CNRS to raise awareness about blood donation through an artistic and anthropological experience. The aim of this project was both innovative and humanizing. Shedding light on "the transfusion chain"—from donation to the recipient—from this perspective not only pays tribute to all those involved (donors, healthcare professionals, patients) but also highlights the importance of blood donation in a more universal and emotional way. Trois gouttes de sang comme une fleur is a two-voiced narrative – those of a photographer and an anthropologist – blending the realism of observation with a poetic apprehension of the world. An intertwined narration to acknowledge the importance of these 'tiny lives' without whom no one could be treated or saved. The book published by le bec en L’air is available here
“To give is also, quite simply and without boastfulness, to do one’s part for humanity or citizenship.”
“To give is also to remember, to act in the present in honor of a loved one’s story; in a way, it is to commemorate an event that one cannot and does not wish to forget. One comes to donate as one returns to their memory, striving, through a single gesture, to live up to what, in various ways, has shaped their life. And when one extends their arm, the taste of a biscuit brought back by parents after giving blood comes to mind, or the image of a child whose life depended on transfusions.”
“To give is to take part in this unique arrangement where there are healthcare professionals, but no patients, because to give, one must be in good health. Of course, one comes to donate blood, but also because, as soon as the threshold is crossed, another social space emerges—one of hospitality, mutual understanding, generosity, gratitude, and acknowledgment. A community of shared experiences, choices, and emotions. A sort of clearing in the indifference of societies and the mercantile valuation of lives.”
“At every stage of its transformation, blood ‘resists’ its reification. And although, in the eyes of all, it is certainly a biological material, it also retains a trace of life that speaks of the donor. Each bag is a modest archive that bears witness to an existence; and this ethical resonance underpins the responsibility of the professionals and the meaning of their work. To work is to honor this gift, to ground the value of one’s profession in it, and it results in self-esteem and pride.”
“And although we say ‘a bag,’ each person can sense, in the distance, the presence of a donor. No one here is naïve. But in these moments, where weakness, urgency, and repetition impose their words and their own rhythms, one doesn’t think about it. Memory doesn’t shift for a metonymy.”
“In the intimacy of the rooms, ethics is an act, and kindness is immediate”
“The one who has received will only remember afterward, but at length, when they feel better. They will then know that some gestures are acts of charity.”
