Christian Théo Baptiste, skater, photographed at the passage Cérésole in Vevey, in May 2019.
Jean-claude Péclet
Sarah Atcho, student and athlete. Swiss record holder in the 4 x100 metre relay at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne, 2018. Photographed at the inauguration of the Tibits restaurant in Lausanne, Buffet de la Gare, December 2018.
Jean-claude Péclet
Climate demonstration, Lausanne, 10 August 2019.
Jean-claude Péclet
Tsusaba Watanabe, street artist, Vevey, 2019.
Jean-claude Péclet
Aurélie Fawer, Swiss champion for apprentice car painting, ranked 6 at the Worldskills trade skills competition in Kazan, 2019.
Jean-claude Péclet
Quentin joins the young people of Sévery or 'Jeunesse de Sévery', during the preparation of the yearly sports event 'Giron du Pied du Jura', May 2017.
Jean-claude Péclet
Christina Buehler, Alpine skiing slalom, Youth Olympic Games, Les Diablerets, 2020.
Jean-claude Péclet
Christian Triventi, dancer, Vevey, 2019.
Jean-claude Péclet
Olivier, member of the young people of Sévery 'Jeunesse de Sévery', at the sports event 'Giron du Pied du Jura', May 2017.
Jean-claude Péclet
Sarah Gysler, explorer and author of a book entitled ‘Petit’ (Little). Photographed aboard the sailboat Dune in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, May 2019.
Jean-claude Péclet
Lausanne's first climate event, Place Chauderon, January 2019.
Jean-claude Péclet
Swiss journalist and photographer Jean-Claude Péclet uses his trusty 1938 Rolleiflex black and white camera to highlight young people with a passion and a purpose.
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Born in England, I've lived in Switzerland since 1994. I trained as a graphic designer in Zurich between 1997 – 2002. More recently I have moved on to work as photo editor and joined the team at swissinfo.ch in March 2017.
Among his portraits: young farmers, climate activists, elite athletes and video game enthusiasts. But this generation Z is often taken aback by Péclet’s ancient and unfamiliar camera, with its weird-looking external casing.
Péclet started the series a few years ago. His subjects mainly come from the western part of Switzerland and are avid athletes, gaming enthusiasts, gifted apprentices or lovers of “parkour” and other urban sports. The journalist also found himself in the middle of the first youth climate event in Lausanne in 2019, surrounded by a young generation that is passionate about climate change.
Empathy is the common thread running through the portraits. “I like people who have a passion – whether it’s sports, music, a political cause, their profession or bringing a community together,” said Péclet.
Jean-Claude Péclet is a Swiss journalist who lives in Lausanne. He is a former editor-in-chief of the (now defunct) news magazine L’Hebdo and the 2007 winner of the Jean Dumur journalism award. He now devotes himself entirely to his passion: photography.
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