"Life-saving behaviours" — behind the scenes!

Life-saving behaviours and photography — what's the link, you might ask? At first glance, none, we agree — but!

In May 2016, Prime Minister Manuel Valls decided to award the Grande Cause Nationale label for 2016 to the coalition "Adoptons les comportements qui sauvent," gathered around the Fédération nationale des sapeurs-pompiers de France (FNSP), the Croix-Rouge française (CRF) and the Fédération Nationale de Protection Civile (FNPC).

On 14 September, at the launch of the communication campaign "Let's adopt life-saving behaviours," we were there to take some photos. An opportunity to show you the behind-the-scenes of press conferences and campaign launches.

The photos you'll see

The photos that "come out of" this kind of event cover the subject itself and the personalities attending or hosting it. So for the launch of the life-saving-behaviours campaign, images of first-aid gestures (stopping bleeding, CPR) or awareness sessions (what to do in case of a house fire) will be used.

Of course, appearances by the Minister of the Interior, Mr Bernard Cazeneuve; the Secretary of State to the Prime Minister in charge of victim support, Ms Juliette Méadel; or the footballer David Ginola also delight the photo and video press.

But how does the shooting actually go?

The photos you won't see

No doubt about it, these events are crowded and you have to find your spot without getting in the way of colleagues. It looks like a fashion show, except that you have to move around and anticipate other people's movements to get the photos that will showcase everyone's work. It's by turning your lens around a bit that you realise how many people are working and cooperating.

You'll often hear "I'm stepping in front of you" or "do you mind if I wedge my lens on your shoulder?" — and this whole little world works smoothly together, but without cutting each other any slack.

Learning to save a life

All these photographic considerations shouldn't make you lose sight of the fact that you must know how to save a life! Yes, you must know how to do it. Because if one day I have an accident, I'll be glad to have you in front of me, able to set the chain of emergency response in motion.

More about the 2016 Grande Cause

Find a first-aid training course: here