The Potash Mines of Alsace built thousands of houses at the beginning of the 20th century. They were equipped with modern comfort to accommodate their employees, all free of charge. The company town had seven types of houses: they were distributed between the employees according to their socio-professional category (miner  or engineer) and their number of family members.

In 2004 and in 2012, I photographed Wittelsheim’s miners’ houses (Haut-Rhin). Their constructions (individual or twin houses), their colors and their ordered distributions are meaningful: they narrate a territory and its history, revealing a singular social and hierarchical organization.