Christian Boltanski, visual artist, photographer and filmmaker, was one of the most important French contemporary artists. Already at the age of thirteen, in 1958, he started painting without any artistic training: his childhood, family, memories and events in people's lives. In 1986 he started creating installations with different materials and media, with light as an essential concept. Boltanski is best known for his installations with portrait photos, with which he wants to reconstruct the past. In addition, his oeuvre also contains a number of 'shadow plays' or 'ombres': shadow plays with small figures that make revive childhood memories. Boltanski lived and worked in Malakoff.