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Following the Roma in Lausanne and Romania

The photographer Yves Leresche documented the lives of Roma beggars in Lausanne for five years before the ban came into force in 2018. His images show just what these families faced on the streets of Switzerland and in their homes in Romania.

“They are tireless, because they are always looking for a place where they can earn the most money,” says Leresche. “Then they get chased away and try their luck elsewhere, again and again”.

A freelance photojournalist based in Lausanne, Leresche immersed himself in the lives of the Roma who were begging in Lausanne between 2009 and 2015, before the practice was banned. He slept outside alongside them, accompanied them when they went begging, and made multiple trips to Romania. His work, entitled “Roma: The tireless quest for paradise”, is the result.

Leresche won the 2020 Swiss Press Photo award for his images of the women’s strike in 2019.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR