la maison des mathématiques

When I  worked with Jean-Michel Marin at Institut Henri Poincaré the week before Xmas, there was this framed picture standing on the ground, possibly in preparation for exhibition in the Institute. I found this superposition of the lady cleaning the blackboard from its maths formulas and of the seemingly unaware mathematician both compelling visually in the sheer geometric aesthetics of the act and somewhat appalling in its message. Especially when considering the initiatives taken by IHP towards reducing the gender gap in maths. After inquiring into the issue, I found that this picture was part of a whole photograph exhibit on IHP by Vincent Moncorgé, now published into a book, La Maison des Mathématiques by Villani, Uzan, and Moncorgé. Most pictures are on-line and I found them quite appealing. Except again for the above.