The madding crowd. By Valentina GIOVANELLI & Maéva BROUSSE

Within

Without

We took these photos in Clermont-Ferrand in Place de Jaude on October the 4th.

The first photo shows a happy crowd; that's why we left the photo in colour, without no other effects. The photo was taken in front of the runners, when they were starting their run. It shows solidarity and happiness which is the subject of the photo.

The second photo is of a spectator. The black and white symbolizes his “exclusion”. We do not know who he or she is. The photo is about how alone we sometimes feel when we are surrounded by a lot of people but not part of the crowd.

We felt like taking part in the race because it's a movement of a lot of people. There was a very positive spirit. We saw motivated people! We felt a little sorry for the person standing alone; we imagined that he/she would also have liked to take part in the race.

We can see a lot of teenagers who are beginning the race. They all have coloured sun glasses. They are holding hands. They are enthusiastic and motivated. Behind the people there are buildings.

In the second photo, the barrier separates the picture: on one side there is the crowd and on the other there is the person alone. In the background there are buildings.

“Within”: the crowd is taking part in the race; the people are committed to city life.

“Without”: the person isn't with the crowd, he is excluded, he is not so committed to the social activities of the city.

This type of race was created in 2012 in the USA, inspired by religious Indian street celebrations.

The runners symbolize happiness. The race is a sporting event and we like that. The city centre is where we can spend our free time and go shopping. The crowd means that the event is a success and we think that it is good for the association.

"The madding crowd." This title is a reference to the novel by Thomas Hardy “Far from the Madding Crowd” in which the protagonist feels excluded from society.

Our pictures show the solidarity of the urban people, an active city, the fact that there are a lot of young people in this city, where we can have pleasure and help other through a charity event. They also show that some people are excluded, that in a city there are people who live there but who do not (choose) to take part in city life.  

We can see that Clermont-Ferrand is an active place but that some people who live in the town don't like noise and changing their habits…