Photographing the Aftermath of Paris’ Terror Attacks

2 minute read
A woman is comforted by others outside the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
A woman is comforted by others outside the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
By Olivier Laurent

In the early hours of Saturday morning, the extent of the previous night’s terrorist rampage could still be felt in the streets of the French capital. After eight men launched a series of coordinated attacks across Paris killing at least 129 people and injuring 352, blood splatters on the windows of Le Carillon café testified to the tragedy’s indiscriminate nature.

Jerome Delay, the Associated Press chief photographer for Africa, was in Paris when he received a news alert on Friday night informing him of ongoing shooting incidents. Delay didn’t immediately set out to work. Instead, he gathered as much information as possible on the nature and location of the attacks. By midnight, he was riding his bike to Boulevard Voltaire, where 89 people were killed inside the Bataclan concert hall.

Over the next hours, he visited the sites of most attacks within the capital, capturing harrowing photos of the tragedy’s aftermath. At one point, after passing through a police checkpoint, Delay happened upon a body covered by a white sheet. “It felt like it had been forgotten,” he says. “It felt like I wasn’t supposed to be here; that I wasn’t supposed to see it.”

The next day, as Parisians woke up from an uncertain night, Delay didn’t feel, at first, that things had changed. “Saturday mornings are usually very calm in Paris, so today wasn’t any different,” he says. “But what was striking was to see these soldiers patrolling around the city. We’ve been used to seeing them in train stations and airports, often looking bored. Today, they are everywhere. You ask yourself: ‘Am I really in Paris?’ It’s a weird feeling.”

Now, Delay is photographing the aftermath, turning his lens on the intense grief that can be read on people’s faces as they mourn their death. Cafés where terror struck have been turned into memorials, with friends and strangers alike leaving flowers and messages of support with the hope that this will be the last time they will have to do so.

Jerome Delay is Associated Press’ Chief Photographer for Africa.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent

A victim under a blanket lays dead outside the Bataclan theater in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015.
A victim under a blanket lays dead outside the Bataclan theater in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. Well over 100 people were killed in a series of shooting and explosions explosions. French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency and announced that he was closing the country's borders.Jerome Delay—AP
France Paris Shootings
Victims walk away outside the Bataclan theater in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. Jerome Delay—AP
A man looks out the bullet ridden windows of the Carillon cafe in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
A man looks out the bullet ridden windows of the Carillon cafe in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
Dried blood on the window of the Carillon cafe in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
Dried blood on the window of the Carillon cafe in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
A woman is comforted by others outside the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
A woman is comforted by others outside the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
Bloodstained footsteps are visible on the street linking the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
Bloodstained footsteps are visible on the street linking the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
People line up to give blood at the St Louis hospital across the street from the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
People line up to give blood at the St Louis hospital across the street from the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
France Paris Attacks
People react in front of the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris Saturday Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
A police officer patrols outside the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
A police officer patrols outside the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
A woman carrying flowers cries in front of the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
A woman carrying flowers cries in front of the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
People react in front of the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
People react in front of the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
A man places a candle in front of the Carillon cafe in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
A man places a candle in front of the Carillon cafe in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
France Paris Attacks
Cards, candles and flowers are placed in front of the Carillon cafe in Paris on Saturday Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP
People react in front of the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.
People react in front of the Carillon cafe and the Petit Cambodge restaurant in Paris on Nov. 14, 2015.Jerome Delay—AP

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