François Lochon is not always lucky. Next April 6, Gamma-Rapho was to celebrate its tenth anniversary … The fiesta is over. And then, He had the good idea to go “cover” the Venice carnival, result: a “quarantine” at home in the Luberon. But everything is fine.
1 / Are photographers of your agency sick and / or absent (how many compared to the workforce)?
We have no sick people to date.
2 / What instructions and equipment were given to your photographers in the field? And have they encountered difficulties with the police?
No instructions because Gamma-Rapho has no “staff”. The few collaborating photographers are independent. I drove and photographed yesterday from Marseille to Nice without any problem at the controls, which were rare.
3 / Are you afraid that this pandemic will lead you to review your projects or even close your agency? What impact on your turnover?
Turnover will fall at best to 20% today if everything is normal in September. The press is no longer going to get a lot of publicity. We experienced this with the first Gulf War.
But no, Gamma-Rapho will not close! Our archive structure has no production costs and I have already established a plan B to survive on 20% of the current turnover.
Interviewed by email on March 23, 2020
Michel Puech
Official website of the agency: http://www.gamma-rapho.com
This article first appeared on the A L’OEIL – Journalism & Photography website : http://www.a-l-oeil.info/blog/
