Francisco Medina: testimony from the inside how a photographer experiences the steps of the Cercado de Lima

Francois Medina He has been a professional photographer for eleven years and his approach to lenses and flashes began following graphic design courses. His other passion is music and managed to combine the two: “Actually, I love music in all its forms and I’ve always wanted to be close to it.” This is how he came to work with bands, festivals and becoming a concert photographer.

But there is a social side that has always been present in him, and that is how his taste for documentary photography. “Even at concerts, I always try to reflect what is happening at that moment,” he says. GlobeLiveMedia. It is precisely this social aspect that led him to cover the recent Demonstrations taking place in Limaand which echo the demands of various regions, which call for the closure of Congress and the departure of To Boluarte.

“When I was young, even before doing photography, I always went to the marches. My political and social position has always been well marked on me. And I stopped doing it for work, for concerts. And a few years ago, I already did this kind of photography again, because that’s what calls me,” he says.

Medina wanted to document what happens almost daily in the mobilizations Lima Fence and surroundings. did he like freelance photographer, and specifies that he does not work for a media or an agency, because it is a simple personal project. He affirms that this allows him to inform more clearly, “because we have no position on a profession in which we are, it is above all so that people are informed”.

What caught your attention? demonstrations? The photographer points out that being in the field allows him to see both sides of the coin.

“Although I know that all people walk for an ideal, for something they need and what they are fighting for, I think it is also necessary to see the other side to understand the whole situation and the context. your position as a person always pulls you a little more to one side, doesn’t it? to see both sides,” he says.

Another aspect that draws his attention is that the marches in lima People who live in remote areas arrived and came on their own to defend their ideals. Likewise, he is delighted to see other independent photographers “leaving everything in the field, risking their health and their equipment”.

As reported by National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP)Until last week, 153 journalists were assaulted while covering protests that began on December 7, most of them in Lima. Medina He says he also suffered attacks from walking. A few days ago a big stone fell on his knee and he was unable to walk for two days. He claims that the object was thrown by the Police. But there are also the attacks of the demonstrators, exalted by the men of the press.

Medina remembers protester’s death Victor Santisteban Yacsavilca in downtown Lima following the impact of tear gas fired by a police officer at the end of January. Inevitably, the death of Inti and Bryan on 14N comes to mind.

“At that time, you are there, but you do not measure everything that is happening. Sometimes the adrenaline gets the better of you, but it’s like a kind of battle. I have heard many colleagues say that they are afraid when they are there And it’s kind of hard to keep a cool head and stand firm in this situation, because you don’t really know what might happen or if you step aside, something might hit you. You have to be a little attentive to everything,” he says.

As usual, his family asks him not to cover the steps. But, on the other hand, many people support and share his work in social networks and that helps him, “because I know that I am informing, that is what I want, that people can see what I see at that moment and what is happening in the Peru”.

Francois Medina he captured with his lens an image that speaks volumes. A policeman and a protester hold hands amid the chaos of protests. It is one of those that has collected the most comments and likes on their social networks.

about that Photography, says that everything was very spontaneous. “It happened in seconds, because things almost always happen. The protester approached him and told him that they were marching for this purpose, that maybe the police should also join them and not fight them, but help them. Then the policeman made the gesture of shaking his hand, perhaps to give him his support”, he says.

“I saw it that way, how to support him in that moment as a human. Unfortunately, that’s his job. The police officer must follow an older person’s orders and just comply. So I think it was a gesture of solidarity at the time,” he said.