Artist Adeline Praud Presents to the French Club

Adeline Praud, a native of Nantes, France, is an artist of many mediums. She is a photographer, documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of Orphelinat Centre Emmanuel, an orphanage in Togo, Africa. Adeline’s mission is to bring the “invisible,” people who are on the edges of society, to the fore. As part of this mission, she worked at Dismas House in Rutland, helping people who are in the throes of transitioning from addiction to sobriety. She wrote extensively about this experience for a French journal. Adeline focused on what she views as the grit and bravery it takes for one to emerge from the depths of addiction to reintegration into society. She also set up artistic workshops for occupants of the Dismas House.

Adeline is often hired to shoot photos for Le Monde and L’Humanité, two of France’s most prominent newspapers. Her photographs of Togolese people were awarded top prize for the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Humanity.

Adeline has been coming to French classes and the French Club for the last five years. On Friday, October 7th Adeline was the presenter at the French Club meeting, and described to the students the mission of the orphanage that the French Club will support as part of their objectives for this year. She will be back on October 21st to talk to students in various French classes about her projects that marry art with social action. We are so pleased that she can take the time to share her experiences with French students and their teachers.