Photojournalism on the streets against the Covid-19

Disturb: it is in the very nature of Dysturb. This collective of photographers was created in 2014 to bring photojournalism to the streets and make information accessible to everyone, even those who no longer buy newspapers. "Without asking anyone's permission", they began to display their photos of reports on the walls of Paris, New York or London, forcing eyes to turn, among others, to the Arab Revolutions, the war in Syria or the migrant crisis.

From one war to the next, the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic could not escape them. This week, the collective therefore launched the "Stay Home, Save Lives" campaign in Paris and New York, a first step before entering the streets of Seattle, San Francisco or Nairobi. He posted the photos of a dozen photographers who documented the Covid-19 crisis around the world, in its most terrible moments as in its glimmer of hope, paying tribute to its victims as well as to his fighters.

This time, the objective was not so much to "disturb" as to participate in collective prevention. Alongside the photos, messages remind people of barrier gestures, rules for physical distance or emergency telephone numbers. "The idea was not to be provocative but to be part of a prevention and awareness message", explains to France 24 Pierre Terdjman, co-founder of the project. "The most important thing is to be heard and take advantage of the street to make people who are not at home understand that they should be at home," he insists.

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Urban displays in NYC and in Paris

A post shared by Dysturb (@dysturb) on Apr 28, 2020 at 10:16 am PDT

"Experience the real world"

Abandoned by advertising posters, Parisian and New York walls have seen the photos of Laurence Geai, Hugo Aymar, Ashley Gilbertson, Nina Berman, Ismail Ferdous, Gaia Squarci, Oscar B. Castillo, Oscar B. Castillo, Fabio Bucciarelli and Nichole Sobecki flourish. "Without ads, their images have all the more visibility," says Pierre Terdjman, who considers the street "as the largest of all networks".

"Seeing people pass by our posters made me feel that we still belong to the real world. The experience of the online world is good, but it is important to continue to be present in the physical world", comments Nina Berman, who participated in the collage of the posters. This American photographer, from the Noor agency, documents the health crisis in New York, the most affected city in the United States with more than 10,000 deaths.

"I feel this pandemic less as a physical threat to my body than as an existential threat to my city, and my photos are full of this emotion," she explains to Pierre Terdjman during a live exchange on Instagram. "There are days when I am very paranoid, but at the same time, our industry cannot stay at home. Print and TV journalists can stay at home, but we photojournalists cannot And that's also why we can understand how this virus works. "

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Tonight 6.00 CEST live Instagram with American photographer @nina_berman!

A post shared by Dysturb (@dysturb) on Apr 24, 2020 at 1:00 am PDT

Fight against disinformation

Understand, to better understand. In recent years, Dysturb has expanded its action by launching educational programs in schools in Europe and the United States. The collective is developing tools to fight against "news" and other "fake news".

The Covid-19 campaign is moving in that direction. The photos on display are accompanied by figures and sources on the impact of the disease or the positive effects of containment: "Containment halves the rate of transmissibility of the virus in the population - source: Imperial College London", can we read for example.

"This pandemic has once again proven the risks of online disinformation," says Pierre Terdjman. "We are journalists and our job is also to combat false information disseminated on social networks or on TV." "In the United States, some Republicans have started to say that the Covid-19 was a conspiracy to make President Trump fall. But we are here to attest that no and that the crisis is real," added Nina Berman. "We are here to leave traces."

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Female ward of COVID-19 hospital in Herat, each room holds 4 to 6 women. Herat, Afghanistan. Photo @kianahayeri for the @nytimes

A post shared by Dysturb (@dysturb) on Apr 27, 2020 at 8:06 am PDT

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