I've attended a couple of rallies supporting the Palestinian cause, and documented the passion expressed by (mostly) younger Palestinians, Israelis, Muslims, Jews...along with a myriad of people with varying cultural, faiths, ethnicity, and provenance; all refusing to support the endless atrocities in Gaza, and lamenting the thousands of lives lost in this conflict.
As I photographed (I normally convert my photographs of such "photojournalistic" intent to black and white), I realized that many of the more visible demonstrators were women...and I made the connection between them and "Marianne", the eponymous woman depicted as leading the French to a liberty, equality and fraternity...as in this famous painting.
So who is "Marianne"?
Marianne is a figure embodying the French Republic and its values today, and who appeared following the Revolution of 1789. Under the appearance of a woman wearing a Phrygian cap (one of the symbols of the Revolution), she embodies the French Republic and its values contained in the motto: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” (which became its own motto).
