Petit Poucet Keychain

Where Are the Keys?

On the table. In a pocket. At the bottom of the bag. In the other bag. Perhaps in yesterday’s coat. Perhaps in the kitchen. Perhaps nowhere at all.

PETIT POUCET, we need you.

He scattered pebbles to find his way home. I photograph letters. I catch them as I pass: on a façade, a storefront, a sign, an old word still holding on to a wall. We all have our own method.

Over the years, those letters have become my photographic alphabet. They come from Paris, from its streets, its details and all those small signs we look at without always seeing them. Then, back at my computer, I move them around, bring them together and let them talk to one another.

One day, PETIT met POUCET.

Of course, they already knew each other.

They had simply changed address.

Following the Words

I like the idea that a word can leave a façade and begin another life. That it can become an object. That it can travel in a pocket, a bag, a suitcase.

The Petit Poucet keychain is made in Paris, where its words were photographed and brought together. It accompanies a set of keys, can also be attached to a bag or pouch, and, with a little luck, helps you find what you are looking for more quickly.

I should point out that it does not actually scatter pebbles by itself.

One must remain reasonable.

For the Wonderfully Absent-Minded

Give it to someone who always loses their keys. Someone who never remembers which pocket they used. A lover of fairy tales. A walker. Someone leaving. Someone coming home.

Or yourself, if you already know perfectly well that the keys will end up in the wrong bag again.

Petit Poucet.

One word for the journey.

One for memory.

And the keys somewhere in between.

Photographed in Paris. Designed in Paris. Made in Paris.