Riots in Lyon, France

[Wandjina]

In May 2016 my wife and I were on a guided tour of France. We had arrived in Lyon and were on the obligatory tour of the city and cathedrals, when I noticed a number of helicopters hovering close by.
The tour guide made an off handed comment that there was a protest gathering in the Place Bellecour. Against his advice we left the calm of the tour group in the Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste and headed to where the action was, a few hundred metres away.
I had never seen riot police, nor teargas before, so the scene before me was quite confronting.
Of the many hundreds of photos I took that afternoon this is the best one.

Camera: Canon 5D Mk iii , 1/320sec, f/9.0, ISO 100
Lens: Canon EF 24 - 105 f/4L IS USM at 60mm

[pschlute]

Love it. Really captures the moment and using b+w makes it more "reportage".

[rpcrowe]

I also like this image as a good pieced of photojournalism. The young lady running towards the camera provides impact and gives the image energy.

I would strongly suggest that unless photojournalism is your occupation, that you (or anyone) be extremely careful when photographing action like this. IMO, getting caught between two opposing sides can be very dangerous to life and limb!

Flying missiles can also be dangerous and you don't have to be right up front to become casualty. We had a local demonstration in which a woman was shot with a "non-lethal, bean bag" missile which hit her in the face and caused the loss of her eye and possible traumatic brain damage...

[Manfred M]

A powerful image Martin. The teargas, protesters (some of which seem to be getting ready to throw something at someone out of sight. camera left). The young woman running away makes a powerful statement.

It reminds me of a situation that we were in while visiting Barcelona many years ago. The World Trade Organization was holding a meeting in the city. We were staying in the downtown area and had to park our rental car some distance away.

We checked out of our hotel early and had to dodge the thousands of protesters heading into the city core. Helicopters, machine gun toting soldiers, etc. were nearby, but at some distance from the marchers.

We didn't see the protests, but were happy to get out of town early before things got messy.

[mugge]

I love it!
Cheers Ole

[Wandjina]

I would strongly suggest that unless photojournalism is your occupation, that you (or anyone) be extremely careful when photographing action like this. IMO, getting caught between two opposing sides can be very dangerous to life and limb!

Flying missiles can also be dangerous and you don't have to be right up front to become casualty. We had a local demonstration in which a woman was shot with a "non-lethal, bean bag" missile which hit her in the face and caused the loss of her eye and possible traumatic brain damage...

Richard, I agree with your comments whole heartedly and we were careful. My original image has some drama about it, the overall scene was quite a bit different. There were young mothers with children in pushers walking across the square seemingly feeling quite safe. These two images show it was a little like afternoon entertainment for many of the locals.

[lovelife65]

Wonderful image! Capturing that young lady running towards the camera is fantastic, and is very effective in providing emotional impact.
Great job!

[Chataignier]

Great shot, full of drama

[Wandjina]

Thank you all for your comments