In September 2010 I set out to cover the large demonstration against the French government’s planned retirement reform by shooting portraits of the retirees participating to support the movement. The angle for this series was to compare these retirees’ work history and retirement pension to that of younger generations still at work -and demonstrating.

I planned on using the same studio set up used to shoot the two large demonstrations against Nicolas Sarkozy’s politics which brought huge crowds from the private and public sector together -a rarity in France where people usually demonstrate to attract attention to their own specific issues. This meant two lighboxes and a black cloth backdrop installed on the side of the demonstration’s path, Boulevard Beaumarchais. It also meant having an assistant to watch over the studio and write down the “model’s” testimonial (name, age, profession and in one sentence why they were demonstrating) while I was out casting in the marching crowd. Speed of operation was essential in this shoot: the demonstrators usually marched with a group they didn’t want to loose in the crowd. So every portrait and interview had to be made in less than a couple minutes, five at the most.

Alas my small pool of potential assistants was unavailable for the retirement demonstration. I had just treated myself to the iPhone 4 and was amazed at how good the pictures it produced were. I especially enjoyed playing around with the very popular Hipstamatic application. So I decided to shoot my retirees with my phone.

Along the path of the demonstration I found a neutral backdrop -the metallic curtain of a closed shop on Boulevard Beaumarchais- and had my models pose in front of it. In those ancient days (this was six months ago, an eternity in geekland) the Hipstamatic application was very slow at processing each picture taken. I had to wait 30 seconds to see the result -now you can take up to nine photos while the app processes in the background. That meant I only had time to shoot one picture per retiree, do the quick interview and release him or her. All pictures turned out ok, some better than others but all were usable.

It felt strange to work with a telephone but none of my subjects noticed or said anything about it.

I sent the pictures to my agency, Sipa Press, and they were picked-up by the national magazine Le Nouvel Observateur to illustrate a story on Sarkozy’s retirement reform plan.

Publication Nouvel Observateur n°2394 du 23 au 29 septembre 2010, dossier sur les retraites.

The reform was passed later in the year.

I enjoy shooting with this iPhone/Hipstamatic combination. It’s light, it’s point and shoot and the results are unpredictable -much like that of a Holga. I got over the pixel-count and high ISO race and miss the film’s imperfections. During my last trip to the US, doing research for a personal project (more on that in a future post), I found myself shooting mostly with my phone instead of my Canon 5D Mark II. It allowed me to take quick photographic notes, which was what I needed to feed my reflexion on the project.

Iranian nationals living in Paris and French supporters demonstrate almost daily against the fraud in Iran’s presidential election that saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reelected in a landslide. The disputed presidential poll has prompted the biggest street protests in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Many of the protestors hold pictures by AFP photographer Olivier Laban-Mattei, who made the cover of the press around the world with his great work. Olivier was with AP’s Ben Curtis the last foreign photographer working on the streets of Tehran until he was caught and assigned to his hotel by authorities, condemned to watch the news on TV…

Ils étaient des centaines des milliers à défiler jeudi 29 janvier à Paris. Une masse impressionnante piquée de drapeaux et banderoles, chantant slogans et revendications. Vision si familère qu’elle a le pouvoir de rendre aveugle et sourd.

Qui sont ces gens? À 55 d’entre eux j’ai demandé de poser pour un portrait de face (ou pas), leur prénom, leur profession, et en une phrase la raison de leur présence à la manifestation.

Un seul a prononcé le mot «crise», pour réclamer justice. Ils ont parlé difficulté financière due aux bas salaires, ou démantèlement du service publique… mais en filigrane leur préoccupation principale apparaît être celle du respect des Droits de l’Homme en France-pays-des-Droits-de-l’Homme. Ils se rendent compte que ces Droits ne sont pas dans les faits un acquis inébranlable. Leur mécontentement a germé bien avant «la crise».
Chacun de ces Individus a sa vie, fait partie d’une famille, d’un groupe, d’une classe… Ils ne se connaissent mais ont en commun le souci du bien être de l’Autre.
En traitant les photos j’ai eu le temps de bien les regarder dans les yeux. Ils ont la foi -au sens laïc du terme.

Entendu au passage d’un cortège de syndicat, répété tel un mantra, au mégaphone: «Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes we caaaaaaaaaan!»

Je tiens tout particulièrement à remercier Virginia Castro pour sa collaboration précieuse et indispensable à la réalisation de cette série de portraits!

Arlette Laguiller en séance de pose, photo Corentin Fohlen (cliquer sur la photo pour accéder à son site).

[UPDATE]
En mars 2009 une deuxième manifestation du même genre a donné lieu à cette série de portraits: