In April 2007, three days before the first round of the presidential election, Nicolas Sarkozy invited the press to a manade in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue.
This media sequence was constructed to stage the right-wing candidate on a horse, cowboy style.
A staging undermined by AFP photographers, who show in their shots the absurdity of the situation: journalists parked in a cart, pulled by a tractor, behind Nicolas Sarkozy.
In politics, everything is a question of point of view and orientation.
Also in pictures.
A rule that Thomas Coex remembered on this Friday in April 2007. The AFP photographer was sent to the Camargue to cover Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign.
The scene takes place three days before the first round of the presidential election, which will see the Minister of the Interior be elected, facing Ségolène Royal.
“The day before, we had been to his meeting in Marseille, says Thomas Coex.
We had been told that the next day there was a planned trip to the Camargue.
But we had no information on what exactly he was going to do.
»
Journalists have an appointment at noon at Mas Lou Rayas, in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Once in the herd, Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign teams indicate that the Minister of the Interior will go for a horseback ride, among the bulls, Camargue herd style, escorted by a bodyguard and the Minister of Ecology. of the time, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.
"There were a lot of journalists," recalls Thomas Coex.
We were told to get into a first minibus.
»
Sarkozy's safari on horseback
The first procession arrives well before Nicolas Sarkozy, in the middle of the herd and the bulls.
The journalists then come face to face… with a cart, pulled by a tractor.
The entourage of Nicolas Sarkozy asks the press to get in to make the images, and follow the candidate.
“His team explained to us that we could not be in the middle of the animals, and that this cart was to avoid accidents, recalls Laure Parra, at the time corresponding for Itélé in Marseille.
We weren't very happy to film like that.
We found ourselves embarked in this cart, piled up like animals.
"" We were transported like cattle, plague Patrick, who, at the time, started as a journalist reporter of images.
I really had the impression that my dignity as a journalist had been attacked.
»
After making this small world wait for a while, Nicolas Sarkozy, who arrived in a suit and tie, appeared on his white horse, Univers, in a red shirt.
"We were there to do a kind of Sarkozy safari on horseback, cowboy version with his sunglasses," says Fred, photojournalist.
The scene lasts half an hour and Nicolas Sarkozy, hilarious, does not sulk his pleasure.
“I remember that he winnowed us a little to see us like that, reports Laure Parra.
He even suggested we ride a horse.
»
The first of its kind
Embarked on the first cart, Thomas Coex is surprised by the scene but he “understands the situation immediately.
“I came with my colleague Dominique Faget, also an AFP photographer,” he explains.
But there wasn't enough room for him in my minibus.
He had to take another.
On the cart, I called Dominique and told him to arrive by the last shuttle, and, above all, not to get into the cart.
There was a photo that was of interest: that of Sarkozy and the journalists.
In short, the reverse shot.
And we were the only media to be two.
All the others were on the cart, apart from Dominique and a photographer from
Liberation
who remained on the ground.
Dominique hid in the toilets and came out at the last moment to make this image, when Nicolas Sarkozy arrived on horseback.
Because we did not see him go up, on the other hand… ”
On the cart, Thomas Coex also manages to be at the back of the small group.
“I put the widest angle I had, so as to have the journalists in the frame, explains the AFP photographer.
I told myself that if Dominique couldn't take her picture, at least we had that.
We were so ridiculous.
“At a time when the buzz was not so frequent and social networks not so powerful, the photos of the two AFP photographers quickly made people talk, to the point of making an impression, even today.
It must be said that this kind of staging, at the time, was not so common.
“For having followed Chirac or Jospin in 2002, it was much more spontaneous, remembers Fred.
There was less media, there were no continuous news channels.
And we were allowed to approach the candidates, it was easier.
“Nicolas Sarkozy's teams were in communication, reports Thomas Coex.
They wanted to stage the candidate in a certain way, I had not seen the others do that.
Everything was well thought out, prepared for this staging.
But we made the choice to get out of the imposed image.
A way of continuing to do the work of a journalist… in spite of everything.
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