Guillaume Herbaut — A gendarmerie’s chronicle
Exhibition from July 12 to 14, 2024
International Journalism Festival
Couthures-sur-Garonne, France
Friday, July 12 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | La Cale ::
Meeting with Guillaume HERBAUT, photojournalist, and Camille MILLERAND, photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, by Héloise CONÉSA, head curator of the BNF’s contemporary photography collection, and Emmanuelle HASCOËT, in charge of the major commission for photojournalists in the BNF’s prints and photography department.
Guillaume Herbaut chronicles the daily life of the gendarmes in Tonneins, a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne region hard hit by the economic crisis.
The surrounding countryside is full of charming villages, including Clairac, Le Mas-d’Agenais, Lagruère and Laparade. Lieutenant Joussemet, who takes over as head of the brigade community in 2019, heads up thirty-five gendarmes.
“Tonneins is a town on a human scale. We deal with everything. We deal with ordinary crime, narcotics cases, burglaries, a somewhat hot spot in Marmande, and we also follow up a few individuals on issues of radicalization. But my main concern is domestic violence.”
The brigade community constantly criss-crosses the twenty-four communes around Tonneins, looking after road safety as well as maintaining social links with isolated people. The report focuses on the patrol, which operates from the end of the day to night-time.