Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, leaped into the Seine River yesterday. The photo of the politician in a short-sleeve Orca wetsuit and goggles, frolicking in the river, circled around the world virally in what seemed like the flash of a second. Shortly after her swim, she told the press, “We have cleaned up the Seine, this will allow for the Olympic events, yes, this will allow for us to swim in it after the Olympics, and will be a major legacy.”
The project is said to contribute to cleaning the Oceans. The idea, she said, “is that the river that vacates into the sea is cleaner”.
In my group chat, a friend texted in a reel from Vogue France, who filmed her pre-swim photoshoot.
One responded, “I can’t, dermatologist direct!”
Another texted, “At least she had the intelligence to ask for the installations to plunge in correctly, not like the other one who fell on his face.”
The conversation grew louder.
Paris-based visual AI artist, If Only AI, posted a utopian version of the Seine River, with dolphins and crystal clear water that rivals the Mediterranean. If only.
It’s no secret that the idea of swimming in the Seine can be, well, concerning. It’s been illegal to swim in the river since 1923. Moreover, recent levels of E.coli tested high. But that all seems about to change. Specifically, the Olympics is said to bring in a new “era” to Paris.
The images that we are about to witness starting on July 26, will tell a new story in sports. And make us all want to dive in. As Anne Hidalgo has previously said, “Paris, c'est la fete!”
The heat of the moment makes the Seine look a little like the Côte d'Azur. The idea that Parisians will be able to enjoy an apéro on the river banks and possibly plunge in, one imagines, is quite the photo-op. At one moment, a flâneur or flâneuse, is walking on the right bank, and further down by the Seine, there is a Parisian hopping in a wetsuit.
The Olympian divers who will fiercely compete for medals will become part of the Parisian iconography mantle. The celebration that is about to start, with boats that will parade during the opening ceremony, is going to be an event of a lifetime for Parisians.
One photographer who captures breathtaking swimwear images is Akila Berjaoui. They suggest “life” more than they say “bombshell”.
I met Akila years ago briefly at a Paris administration building. We quickly exchanged contact information and I have since observed her work.
Akila has been published in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, to name a few glossies. Her pictures cover life under the sun. She has a sensual eye for fashion that features sand, sun, and water. The mood in the images reads “back to the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s with their soft colours and sultry joie de vivre”. She sets the scene for the perpetual question: what comes next?
At a moment of impactful images, it’s an important question. It feels as if there is a small renaissance brewing along. Maybe it’s the rebirth of the Republican party. Maybe it’s the possibility of a leading female candidate on the top of the Democratic ticket.
Or maybe, it’s that image-making is the story because that’s where the money has been pointing.
Either way, rendez-vous July 26th to kick off the Olympics. Everyone’s invited to dive in.
You can see and shop for Akila’s work here.
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