A few years ago a friend who was curious about my work as a photographer after I had shown him a few of my photo essays, said to me in regard to the protest day that I had documented in 2009 against the government's policy (under then president Nicolas Sarkozy) and as evidence of public dissatisfaction in the face of the economic crisis: "It would be interesting to see what's become of these people under Hollande."
In 2016 I was able to respond somewhat to this question by going out on a number of occasions to the several protest days (about 15 altogether) that were taking place around Toulouse within the context of a national mobilization against the Labour law that was designated by the name El Khomri.
It wasn't possible, because of a few precautions about my health, to be present more often and I'm sorry not to have been able to follow more closely the Nuit Debout and the operations that were conducted in parallel (toll free, occupation MacDo, etc) in Toulouse, nor be in the capital at least once which was the epicenter of the Nuit Debout. Nevertheless I'm willing to hope that these images capture somewhat the spirit of that singular moment during Hollande's five years, one that will surely leave its mark on the political life of France.
(1) This law aims at reforming the Labor Code: "The text, after having been reworked by the government, was adopted without a vote at first reading by the National Assembly following the government's commitment of responsibility thanks to the use of Article 49 paragraph 3 of the French Constitution (known as "49.3"). After its adoption by the Senate, the text was again adopted without a vote in the National Assembly on a new reading and final reading. It was promulgated on August 8, 2016."*
* https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_relative_au_travail,_a_la_modernisation_du_dialogue_social_et_a_la_securisation_des_parcours_professionnels (accessed on 14 July 2021)
A few years ago a friend who was curious about my work as a photographer after I had shown him a few of my photo essays, said to me in regard to the protest day that I had documented in 2009 against the government's policy (under then president Nicolas Sarkozy) and as evidence of public dissatisfaction in the face of the economic crisis: "It would be interesting to see what's become of these people under Hollande."
In 2016 I was able to respond somewhat to this question by going out on a number of occasions to the several protest days (about 15 altogether) that were taking place around Toulouse within the context of a national mobilization against the Labour law that was designated by the name El Khomri.
It wasn't possible, because of a few precautions about my health, to be present more often and I'm sorry not to have been able to follow more closely the Nuit Debout and the operations that were conducted in parallel (toll free, occupation MacDo, etc) in Toulouse, nor be in the capital at least once which was the epicenter of the Nuit Debout. Nevertheless I'm willing to hope that these images capture somewhat the spirit of that singular moment during Hollande's five years, one that will surely leave its mark on the political life of France.