![More than a million people marched in Paris - and nearly 4 million gathered all over France - in solidarity after the killings that stunned the nation, Jan. 11, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-march-charlie-hebdo-1.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
French photographer Julien Pebrel has been covering for TIME the aftermath of the deadly Paris attacks, which claimed the lives of 17 people — including eight journalists at the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper.
“The mood in Paris last week was difficult to describe,” Pebrel tells TIME. “There was sadness, surprise. People were just in shock. When I talked to my colleagues and friends, none of them could work these first few days.”
That first evening, Jan. 7, as thousands of people came together at Place de la République in the center of Paris, Pebrel remembers seeing protesters spell out the words “Not Afraid” in signs. “The gathering was beautiful, silent and respectful,” he says. “There were a lot of young people – people who had never read Charlie Hebdo or [its predecessor] Hara Kiri.”
From the attacks, a sense of national unity has formed, says Pebrel. “In the streets, people are nicer, more polite with each other. They smile. There’s a sort of shared compassion—at least, that’s what I’ve seen,” he says. “I know that there’s been a rise in the number of anti-Muslim acts, so I guess some people react differently to these attacks.”
Pebrel senses that Muslims in France are growing wary. On Jan. 13, he visited the Addawa Mosque in Paris, where Cherif Kouachi, one of the two gunmen who attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, met with a jihadi recruiter for Iraq in 2004. “When one man saw me arrived, he told me: ‘More media, you’re going to say bad things about Islam once again.’ That’s when you realize that there’s a real gap [in our society],” says Pebrel. “We talked. It was friendly, but that’s when you realize that Muslims in France fear they will become scapegoats.”
Julien Pebrel is a French photographer based in Paris and represented by MYOP.
Alice Gabriner, who edited this photo essay, is TIME’s International Photo Editor.
Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent
![More than a million people marched in Paris - and nearly 4 million gathered all over France - in solidarity after the killings that stunned the nation, Jan. 11, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-march-charlie-hebdo-1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![France’s largest demonstration since the end of World War II, Parisians of all walks of life marched against terror, Jan. 11, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-march-charlie-hebdo-3.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Rue Nicolas Appert, not far from the Charlie Hebdo office A memorial site for the 12 victims of the terrorist attacks near the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical weekly publication, Jan. 12, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-street-1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Rue Nicolas Appert, not far from the Charlie Hebdo office Flowers, candles, notes, and “I am Charlie” signs are strewn at an improvised memorial near the Charlie Hebdo offices, Jan. 12, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-street-2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Rue Nicolas Appert, not far from the Charlie Hebdo office Police guard the area near the Charlie Hebdo offices, as Paris remains on alert after the killings, Jan. 12, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-street-3.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Le Marais, Paris - In front of the Yeshiva Yad Mordechai Students stand in front of the Yeshiva Yad Mordechai in the Marais, a traditionally Jewish quarter in Paris, Jan. 11, 2015. Rising anti-Semitism has propelled Jews to leave France in record numbers with 7000 emigrating to Israel in 2014.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-marais-1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Le Marais, Paris - Mr Muciano in his bakery Life goes on at this Jewish bakery in the Marais, a traditionally Jewish quarter in Paris, France, Jan. 11, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-marais-2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![La Courneuve - january 13th The Charlie Hebdo attackers, the Kouachi brothers, spent years of their young adult lives in the banlieue, or suburbs, outside Paris, where low income housing projects are populated largely with immigrant populations and youth unemployment rates are rampant, Jan. 13, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-banlieue.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Addawa Mosque in the 19th arrondissement The Kouachi brothers, the Charlie Hebdo attackers, fell into a life of petty crime before turning to fundamentalist religion. At one time, they attended this mosque in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, Jan.11, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-addawa-mosque.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Men pray at a mosque in the 19th arrondissement in Paris, which the Kouachi brothers, the Charlie Hebdo attackers, had once attended, Jan. 13, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/paris-march-charlie-hebdo-2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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