“Happy, joyful, proud.” These are some of the words photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand uses to describe the France he has encountered while photographing tens of thousands of people for his latest project.
Presented in Lyon, the 'Vivre Ensemble' exhibition brings together hundreds of portraits exploring the people and communities that make up contemporary France.
Arthus-Bertrand began the project with demographer Hervé Le Bras, aiming to capture different professions, social classes and family structures in a country he says is changing rapidly.
The photographer says he has photographed around 40,000 people for the project, including nearly 1,500 in Lyon in just three days.
Best known for "The Earth from the Air", his multiple award-winning aerial portrait book of our planet, Arthus-Bertrand says he now prefers photographing faces, drawn to the empathy and connection created between photographer and subject.
At the heart of the exhibition, he says, is “love” — a love for people and for what connects them. Looking at the world from above, he adds, there are no borders: just “one single planet” that we all share.
