The photo has gone around the world as the defining image of French wildfires, and of the climate crisis – but who took it, where is it and what does it actually show?
The image of a couple calmly sitting on the beach under an umbrella, watching as huge clouds of smoke rise from wildfires, seems set to become a metaphor for humanity’s apparent inability to take action on the climate.
The extremely striking photo – with its oh-so-French detail of the parasol advertising Pastis 51 – has been used on newspaper front pages around the globe, and widely shared on social media.
It gained another layer of notoriety when UK newspaper The Times used it on its front page . . . right underneath a main article attacking Net Zero.
When the story of why humanity didn’t stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.
— Adam Schwarz (@adamjschwarz.bsky.social) July 25, 2026 at 12:03 AM
But is all actually as it seems in this photo?
The picture was taken at Moutchic beach – this is not on the coast, it’s a lake beach at the Etang de Lacanau. Although the fire appears very close in the picture, the beach is around 15km away from the wildfire zone.
The Moutchic lake beach, where the photo was taken. Google Maps
The couple in the photo are therefore not in an evacuation zone, and are not putting themselves in danger or doing anything wrong by being there.
They’re also not alone – the photo is one of a series that shows other beach-goers and even an ice cream seller on the beach.
Beachgoers rest on the beach of Moutchic. Photo by Maximilien LAMY / AFP
A beach goer looks at his smartphone as a vendor waits with his cart on the beach of Moutchic. Photo by Maximilien LAMY / AFP
The incredible pictures were taken by Agènce France Presse photographer Maximilien Lamy – although it happened by chance, as he was in the area on holiday when the blazes broke out.
In fact, he told French newspaper Le Parisien that he took the pictures on his phone, as he didn’t have his work camera equipment with him.
He said: “I’m walking along Moutchic beach and taking photos of holidaymakers with my phone. Some of them are stunned, whilst others carry on with what they’re doing.
“The scene is apocalyptic; the light is incredible with all the smoke. Clearly, I’m here at just the right moment.
“I took the photo because I immediately saw the striking contrast between their attitude, the Pastis 51 parasol and the apocalyptic scene behind them. The intention is to capture that contrast, that very powerful symbolism.
“I’m not judging them, because I don’t know what they’re thinking at that moment. Do they not care, or are they feeling a sense of helplessness?”
This contrast between the couple’s apparently relaxed manner and the horror unfolding in front of them saw the photo go viral – although we don’t know who the couple are and, as Maximilien points out, they may be in shock rather than uncaring.
But the photo provides an apt metaphor for the growing public anger at the failure to tackle climate change at a government and international level, a sort of modern ‘fiddling while Rome burns’.
The picture is being widely reproduced with prominent politicians Photoshopped in, appearing to be casually enjoying the beach while the world around them burns.
Here is the photo reproduced as a cartoon in the left-wing newspaper Libération, showing President Emmanuel Macron and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez as the couple under the parasol, saying “We’re facing it”.
Incendies en France : on fait face ! ✏️ Par Coco, d’après la photo de Maximilien Lamy
— Libération (@liberation.fr) July 27, 2026 at 7:00 AM