Photography Culture

Using Instagram to Curate the Events Before the Paris Terrorist Attacks

Chris Gampat
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11/30/2015
6 Mins read

Last Updated on 11/30/2015 by Chris Gampat

Screen Shot 2015-11-30 at 11.41.37 AM

Curation done by Hugo Passarello Luna. Used with permission.

The recent Paris Terrorist attacks were extremely tragic–and as a journalist, Hugo Passarello Luna has tried to make sense of the events that happened previously by piecing them together via Instagram.

“I have looked for the last images posted on Instagram of the places that were attacked before the tragedy took place.” says Hugo in an email to the Phoblographer. He’s essentially trying to “stop time” using the Instagram timeline and see what those places meant to people, before they became a place of mourning.

Hugo’s analysis explores different ways and angles to tell the story of the events that happened in the area before tragedy struck.

“One week after the Paris attacks of November 13th, I posted a photo on Instagram of Le Carillon, one of the places targeted by the terrorists.” says Hugo. “In the posted image I added the location and using that option I clicked to see what others photos had been posted of the same place. Unsurprisingly, there were already many images and mostly similar: flowers on the sidewalk, candles and people lighting candles, people mourning, some French flags, letters, portraits of the victims. You scroll down and the photos repeat themselves hundreds of times. Until they do not.”

Hugo’s project is after the jump.

“To deny temporal succession, to deny the self, to deny the astronomical universe, appear to be acts of desperation and are secret consolations. Our destiny is not terrifying because it is unreal; it is terrifying because it is irreversible and iron-bound.” Jorge Luis Borges, A New Refutation of Time, (1946) One week after the Paris attacks of November 13th, I posted a photo on Instagram of Le Carillon, one of the places targeted by the terrorists.

In the posted image I added the location and using that option I clicked to see what others photos had been posted of the same place. Unsurprisingly, there were already many images and mostly similar: flowers on the sidewalk, candles and people lighting candles, people mourning, some French flags, letters, portraits of the victims. You scroll down and the photos repeat themselves hundreds of times.

Until they do not.

There was a photo posted exactly one week before that attacks, on November 6th. We see Le Carillon in a different light, innocent and carefree. There is a book, a beer and a coffee in the foreground. A man standing in the background, apparently talking to someone else, oblivious of the photo being taken. Just like the photo taker is unaware of what will happen a week later.

Could we stop the feed of images there? Can we live in a universe that stood still in that moment, eternally observing the book, the beer, the coffee and the man talking? Can we freeze time just like a photo does?

We cannot travel back in time but we can explore past perceptions of those places. I chose to do it Instagram.

These are that last images posted before those places took a different tragic meaning.

*************************************************************

Le Carillon

Photo by @nourayoub found with the location

option.

Posted on Nov 6, 2015 at 5:54am PST

Les régimes totalitares brûlent les livres,

la démocratie les noie. #JeanZeboulon

A photo posted by Nour Ayoub (@nourayoub) on

Le Petit Cambodge

Photo by @raphlanf found using the location option. Posted on Nov 11, 2015 at 3:10pm PST

Photo by @k_tonys86 found using the location option. Posted on Nov 11, 2015 at 12:09pm PST

B E A U – B U N. | 😋🍜. #bobun #lepetitcambodge #bankholiday #dinner A photo posted by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀K-Tony S. (@k_tonys86) on

Photo by @naomswell found using the location option. Posted on Nov 10, 2015 at 9:28am PST

Shrimp soup ILY 🍲 A photo posted by Naomi Clément (@naomswell) on

Photo by @v.bring found using hashtag #lepetitcambodge. Posted on Nov 8, 2015 at 11:49am PST

Photo by @ange.la.mu.ller found using hashtag #lepetitcambodge. Posted on Nov 7, 2015 at 6:10am PST

🎈 #lescopains #lepetitcambodge A photo posted by Angela. M. (@ange.la.mu.ller) on

 

Café Bonne Bière

Photo by @emmanuelvivier found using the location option. Posted on Nov 6, 2015 at 2:16pm PST

Photo by @vincent.howl found using the location option. Posted on Oct 20, 2015 at 1:03am PDT

Photo by @chialestephanie found using the hashtag #cafebonnebiere. Posted on Oct 11, 2015 at 8:05am PDT

#cafebonnebiere #coffeebreak A photo posted by Stéphanie Chiale (@chialestephanie) on

Bataclan

Photo by @ledams found using the location option. Posted on Nov 13, 2015 at 11:40am PST

Photo by @jmaccaud found using location option. Posted on Nov 13, 2015 at 10:14am PST

Cinq mois sans vous voir les potes, c’était trop. #EODM #EaglesOfDeathMetal #JesseHughes #bataclan A photo posted by Jérémy Maccaud 🇫🇷 🇨🇭 (@jmaccaud) on

Photo by @fehmilicious found with hashtag #lebataclan Posted on Nov 13, 2015 at 10:10am PST

Bu gece boyle #eodm #jessehughes #rocknroll A photo posted by @fehmilicious on

La Belle Équipe

Photo by @florianenvt found using location option. Posted on Nov 13, 2015 at 4:01am PST

Happy birthday my love 😍 @lcorentinb A photo posted by Floriane Nvt (@florianenvt) on PST

Comptoir Voltaire

Photo by @stylishparis_ found using the location option. Posted on Nov 10, 2015 at 12:20pm PST

Comptoir Voltaire. #paris #stylishparis Insp. #berbererie #berbere #stylishparis #style #fashion #ethniquechic #bohochic #bohemechic #berberechic #jewels #jewelry #inspiration #inspo #inspi #turquoise #silver #sun #boho #boheme #bohemian #bobo #bobochic #ethnic #ethnique #home #deco #scandinave A photo posted by STYLISH PARIS ▫️ميليا (@stylishparis_) on

Photo by @stylishparis_ found using the location option. Posted on Nov 1, 2015 at 10:27am PST

Photo by @elie.zl found using the hashtag #comptoirvoltaire. Posted on Jun 8, 2015 at 6:49am PDT

#Paris #France #comptoirvoltaire #sunshine A photo posted by Elie Zaslavoski (@elie.zl) on

Photo by @gus.belhassen found using the hashtag #comptoirvoltaire. Posted on Jun 6, 2015 at 11:25am PDT

#comptoirvoltaire #rosehappy #lignedartconcept #spotterrassemidiminuit #molleton #paris11 #sun 👓 A photo posted by snap: hugo.belhassen (@gus.belhassen) on

events hugo passarello luna instagram Paris Terrorist Attacks
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.