Strike and riots in Paris with Leica M8

yanidel

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As you might know, France went through a day of general strike. At night the demonstration ended in front of the Opera and riots started. I quickly ended up myself facing the charging anti-riot forces as the fights begun. So armed with my M8, I started shooting between stones, running people and police forces. My failing shutter held on until the last two shots luckily. I mainly used 50mm Summicron and 28mm Ultron, all at F2. Too bad I did not have a 1.4 lens ...

So if you are interested on how these strikes and riots look like I have added a soundslide show on my blog : (some images are violent, but nothing a RFF member can't handle)

http://blog.yanidel.com/2009/01/29/strike-and-riots/
pump up the volume and click on picture to start
 
Excellent Series.... Very well Done...Strong Emotional Pull
I tend to gravitate towards shooting demonstrations when i can

A bit Shocking ...
I did not realize France & Sarkozy were at such odds
I also thought France weathered the Economic Meltdown better than most because they are not CREDIT Card Driven
but relied more on Debit cards.

The World and All its Unrest
we are all heading for One Big Revolution
and Giving all the Money to Banks ....:(

All the Best To You- Y
 
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I love to spend a fair amount of time in Paris and I found this series to be really well done. Kudos on capturing the emotions and tension from an unfolding drama there.

I must say I am happy that timing didn't bring me there when the trains were shut down, that's quite the nightmare.

Take care and thank you for posting.

Kent
 
Paris is a well-lit city at night.
Very evocative photographs and story line, Yanidel.
I have many contacts, friends, and associates among the French left, and am part of the revue called "Multitudes".
I have photographed some demonstrations here in Taiwan, but have never shared them on RFF.
 
Excellent Series.... Very well Done...Strong Emotional Pull
I tend to gravitate towards shooting demonstrations when i can

A bit Shocking ...
I did not realize France & Sarkozy were at such odds
I also thought France weathered the Economic Meltdown better than most because they are not CREDIT Card Driven
but relied more on Debit cards.

The World and All its Unrest
we are all heading for One Big Revolution
and Giving all the Money to Banks ....:(

All the Best To You- Y


Yeah, I thought Europe may have missed our problems. Too bad there is so much interconnectedness.


I thought those images were powerful btw.
 
Do you hold the rights to that music? Using the music without permission of its author is not a good thing and may be a copyright violation even though you are not using it for commercial purposes. I don't think this falls under "fair use" but maybe a lawyer RFF member could comment.

You don't even credit the music!
 
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A bit Shocking ...
I did not realize France & Sarkozy were at such odds
I also thought France weathered the Economic Meltdown better than most because they are not CREDIT Card Driven
but relied more on Debit cards.

True for the people, also sensible limits on mortages and no banks forced to sell mortgages to subprime (thanks, Bill).

But the french banks had none of these limits and got caught by subprime anyway. Germany also.
 
Yanidel,

From what I could tell, you had some good photographs in there but to be honest, I lost attention because the Ken Burns effect was overdone. I would really like to see this SoundSlide done without the pan/zoom effect. If you do use it, slow it down much more and use it sparingly. Let me linger over the individual images and allow the strength of the photographs to come through.
 
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Bravo! You have shot a a variety of situations and moods, and re-created the experience for the viewer.
 
Great photos from a beautiful and vibrant city. As an American, what impresses me is that the French still bother to hit the streets about something. I honestly don't know what it would take for Americans to protest like that. Here in convservative Oklahoma, at least, even the disaster in Iraq only brought out half a dozen protesters, and they were usually jeered by passerbs-by. Even at the height of Bush's power and folly, there were no protests. Too much time away from the TV, I guess.
 
Great series of photos! I gotta hand it to the French! They know they can take down governments if need be.
 
re: the music dude above. Relax man, its the internet.

relax man, the artist always gets the shaft, even by other artists. and the photog did not even CREDIT the music. Screw the internet, this is about respect and professionalism.

Posting something on the "internet" does not give license to use without permission the intellectual property of others. Wait till someone does it to you - in a context you know nothing about and maybe don't even agree with - and see how you like it.
 
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