During the kids’ second week of the holidays, we rented a small house in the west of the island, just a stone’s throw from two rather popular spots: Boucan Canot and Les Roches Noires. Two places, two atmospheres. Boucan Canot has always been a favourite with young people, who flock there in droves. It’s also the first beach you come to when heading west from the north of the island. Les Roches Noires attracts fewer people. The beach is nestled between the marina and the town. People go there for the beach, but also for the town of Saint-Gilles, which has an aquarium, diving schools and shops. In short, you can see that it doesn’t attract the same sort of crowd.

During our trip to Boucan, there was a bit of a swell when we laid our things out on the sand, and I could see the lifeguards busy at work with the nets. Since the shark crisis, which happened over 10 years ago, swimming has only been permitted within designated swimming areas marked out by floating nets. The area is quite large, providing a safe zone. It also makes the lifeguards’ job easier as they monitor the swimming area. Some say it was better before, without the nets… Admittedly, I remember trips to Boucan where we could swim as we pleased and marvelled at the stingrays just a few metres from the shore. But that was before the shark crisis…

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For many years, people have been accustomed to swimming within these famous nets. It was also strictly forbidden to swim anywhere else, with the exception of the lagoon, which was protected by the coral reef. In recent months, the regulations have changed slightly. The last shark attack was in 2019, and the Prefect has decided to relax the rules by allowing people to swim anywhere, provided they do so wearing a mask and flippers! Basically, you’re being asked to take responsibility by keeping a watchful eye on your surroundings and watching out for sharks!

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Well, I might as well tell you that we’re already seeing things getting out of hand, and very few people have flippers and masks. Since we can’t put a police officer behind every swimmer, I’m just waiting to see when the next shark attack will happen! They’re still out there! Reports of shark sightings are frequent, even near the nets. Every morning, before allowing swimming, the nets are checked (for holes!) and the area is also combed through. In fact, this summer, on two occasions, swimming areas within the nets were closed to the public because a juvenile shark was spotted inside the nets! In heavy swell, swimming is also prohibited because, with large waves, the nets don’t really fulfil their purpose and swimming can also be very dangerous.

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That was certainly the case on that lovely sunny day in March. I went to check with the lifeguard and was told that swimming in the open sea was prohibited that very day. The only option left for a dip was the Boucan swimming pool! The pool was packed with young people there to have fun. It’s a place I really love for taking photos. Up until now, I’d take my children there and take photos of them. Naturally, I’d make the most of it to snap away happily and do a bit of beach photography. But the problem is that my two boys have reached a stage in their lives where all that matters is their bloody smartphone. You even have to drag them to the beach, and they’re bored stiff and can’t wait to get back to flop onto the bed and scroll through loads of rubbish on their smartphones… The only way for them to have fun at the beach would be to be with their mates. But then again, we’re not going to rent a 120m² house just so they can bring their mates along!

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So there I was, sitting on a rock by the pool, taking photos of half-naked teenagers without the slightest pretence that I was simply documenting my children’s holiday! Gwen, who was splashing about in the pool, even told me I looked a bit odd taking photos and that all I needed was a trench coat to complete my pervert’s outfit. Anyway, we street photographers are generally seen as weird and dodgy types. Let’s just say that at the beach, with all those naked bodies, the setting doesn’t exactly work in our favour.

But whether at the beach or elsewhere, I always go about it the same way. When I spot a scene with potential, I stay there trying to figure out how to make it interesting by adding elements, or taking some away… As you well know, it’s called: working the scene. I know some people find it lacks spontaneity and don’t like it. Personally, I don’t do it all the time. But sometimes, I have to wait for that moment that will give me THE photo.

A few weeks ago, I took a short series of photos in the town of Saint-Denis. I didn’t spend much time there, but just long enough for the elements to fall into place and give me this photo.

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The other photos aren’t great, but they helped me get to the shot I wanted.

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At Boucan Canot beach, it was the same story. There was a lot going on. It was almost too much. Things were moving too fast and it was chaos, with people walking into the frame and overlapping with others. It was difficult to get a clear, clean shot. I had the idea of photographing someone falling or jumping into the water. I wanted to capture that precise moment when they entered the water. Why? Simply to capture that moment of extreme tension and also to add movement to the photo. Of course, without using burst mode. I know that quite a few street photographers use this mode so they can then boast about having captured ‘the moment’! I find that ridiculous; you haven’t captured anything at all, you’ve just fired off a burst and picked out what interested you… You might as well film the street in 4K and extract images from it. The following photos are forgettable. They do, however, give you a sense of the chaos that reigned at the swimming pool.

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But they served as preparatory work for the one I managed to capture in the end. Once I’d taken that one, I packed up my gear because I knew I’d got the photo I’d be looking for.

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All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR3 | Crop 35mm.