While life in France revolves primarily around major cities such as Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and Toulouse, there is a phenomenon unique in this regard: the so-called "Diagonale du Vide" (Diagonal of Emptiness), running diagonally from the northeast to the southwest of France.
This strip stretches across about a quarter of the country yet houses only 10–12 million of France's nearly 70 million inhabitants. In the news, it is best known for poor infrastructure, a shortage of skilled workers, and the exodus of young people from rural areas.
Rather than discussing the Diagonale du Vide in abstract terms, German photographer Max Schlag together with French journalist Léa Nowicki traveled to one of the region's provinces, Auvergne, to speak with its youth. How do their daily lives look? What experiences have they made, and can they imagine spending the rest of their lives here?
Over the course of 14 days, they engaged with 12 protagonists whose dreams range from building a life within the diagonal to escaping into the metropolises, often somewhere in between. The project was photographed on 120mm and 35mm film and consists of both images and interviews with the different protagonists. It was then developed into a first book dummy titled Là où les Coqs Chantent.
“Metamorphosis:State of Change” at the Goethe-Institute Paris 2025
The project was presented at the Fotobus slideshow during Rencontres d'Arles 2025 and in the group exhibition "Metamorphosis: State of Change" at the Goethe-Institut Paris from 13 November 2025 to 12 January 2026. The book is on display at the Goethe-Institut Lyon in the context of the Biennale starting 24 September 2026.
Map by Finn Andorra