Gilets Jaunes - Paris Act IV
Thousands of demonstrators protesting rising fuel prices and taxes penalizing the working and middle classes faced equal numbers of armed police officers in an angry and chaotic confrontation that resulted in the arrest of more than 2,000 nationwide, as protesters burned cars and clashed with police. On that day, the French government deployed armoured vehicles in the capital for the first time since World War II, with many areas of the city on virtual lockdown.
To have the best photo, photographers must often be as forward as possible. In the case of the manifestation our place is in the middle between the police and the protestors. That day police violence was unprecedented against the press and the photographers come to document the act 4 of the yellow vest movement. This photo has been taken at the corner of the Champs-Elysées and a little street where the police retreated. Just after the photo was taken, I received a portion of the policeman's flash ball in the lips that was swollen for weeks.
The protesters and the iconic monument "Arc de Triomphe" behind, of which some inner part had been destroyed during the act 3, the week before. The skull scarf that covers this protester face on the left of the photo also reflects the social and economic death that affects France for some people here.
A few years ago, the President Emmanuel Macron was elected with a slogan and a political movement called "La France en marche". On December 8th 2018, 8000 people were walking on the Champs-Elysées together against Macron's policy. It was the act 4 of the yellow vest movement.
This day, as many police officers were deployed as protestors following the violence of the previous act. But the yellow vest were more numerous than ever. This man on his knees in front of the police screamed his revolt not only against the political system in place but also against police violence against peaceful protesters. Arms stretched towards a revolution in motion.
Most of the protestation that day took place on the Champs-Elysees. Thousands of protestors against thousands of policemen. This photo is called "No compromise" because some police officers did not even try to understand what happen that day or to differentiate between violent protesters and peaceful protesters. That day, police violence was at its peak.
Journalists are not the only ones to film and document the events. The police too and the gendarmerie have cameras to justify the violence of some protestors, themselves filmed and photographed by the photographers and the press. It's a vicious circle that never ends, trying to justify each other's violence, batons forward.
To witness and document this day made me realize just how much social malaise had developed in France over the years. It was an exhilarating shock to see so many French people rise up against the government, and to watch my city turned into a scene of chaos and destruction. I sensed how profound the miscommunication between the two opposing sides was and felt both sad and compassionate at the same time.
At the Quai d'Orsay, right after a big confrontation between the police and yellow vest protesters on the Alma Bridge. This man created a dam and set fire to show his anger by raising his arm in a sign of revolution. It was the act 4 on december 8th 2018 in Paris, of the yellow vest protestation.
After ten hours of confrontation between the police and protesters, the famous avenue was completely full of gas cylinders. To see these two policemen with their gas mask and the full equipment in the middle of the Christmas lights, was an unrealistic scene. The contrast was chocking and sad at the same time. There were almost posing as robot. I sat in front of them and took the picture.
This yellow vest protester was taunting the police. They were hundreds of policemen in front of him, giving the order to back off and swinging gas cylinders. But despite this, this man ignored these injunctions and performed dance steps in the gas by rebalancing with his foot the gas cylinders arriving on him. It was full of grace, but it was also a way to demonstrate that French people were not afraid to go forward and ask what was due to them. They were walking on the iconic avenue of the Champs-Elysées for the act 4 of the yellow vest movement and nothing could stop them anymore.
