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Kevin, Hadj, Laeti, Vincent… At night, these athletes specializing in parkour stroll through the Parisian capital to turn off the lights of the shops. Brut followed their actions for an evening.
“The lights on all night, in fact, I think it’s an aberration, because in a world with limited resources, the best way not to waste is perhaps not to consume.“According to the law, illuminated signs must be extinguished between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. But for this group of athletes, many shops are not yet playing the game.
“I would say that it is above all a civic action. We are not politicized. We, the DNA of our collective, is sport. So, this is clearly not a militant action, but a citizen action guided by common sense.” This group of friends and sports enthusiasts go out at night to turn off the lights of the capital’s shops. This idea is inspired by the “Lights off” collective, a movement of environmental activists who did this with poles and a stepladder. “We, with our parkour techniques, we thought that at some point it would be a little more useful to democratize this sport to put it in a context outside of performance.“
“We make sure to do it the right way. We don’t do it when it damages the window, when it replaces public lighting, when it’s things of public utility like pharmacies, the police, etc. We make sure that it is benevolent and that it is well received.“ With their actions, the collective hopes to convey a message that is meant to be symbolic. “We don’t play the role of an authority. On the other hand, we are here to send a message, knowing that our action is intended to be symbolic, because we are not going to turn off all the lights of all the signs, on the other hand, we know that behind, if there are reactions following our actions, it always feels good.”