Policeman in anti smoke mask on the street during a protest

Shot during a BLM march in the french town of Lyon, this was one of the first major protests since the beginning of the lockdown in March. While photographing, the police were using tear gas and water canons to push off the antiracist protesters. I was both terrified and fascinated by this dreadful spectacle. All of the sudden, a dozen police officers came out of the thick tear gas cloud and told us to move away, that is when I shot this picture. I explicitly added a vignette effect on the image in order to communicate the feeling of opreesion and enclosure I and probably many others had. #HARPERCOLLINS