Rémy Artiges on Photographing Le Pen: 'A Black Hole Sucking In the Light'

By Tom Whitfield

Photographer Rémy Artiges photographed Jean-Marie Le Pen across twenty years, from the shock first-round vote of 21 April 2002 to the far-right founder's dying years — and he says the pictures matter more now than when he took them. France's next presidential election is scheduled for April 2027, and current polls point to a win for Le Pen's Rassemblement National. If that holds, it would be the first time the far right has held power in France since 1945.

"It's a mess!" Artiges says. "French politics is super divided at the moment, and I am sure that the traditional right wing would prefer to join the far right than the far left [in the event of a coalition]. So the RN could win next year."

What changed between 1974 and 2002?

The party, known as Le Front National until 2018, was founded in 1972 when the neo-fascist Ordre Nouveau merged with Le Pen's movement. Le Pen stood in the 1974 presidential election and won 0.74 percent of the vote. The centre then shifted around him — a process French commentators dubbed 'la lepénisation' in the 1980s.

Marine Le Pen took over in 2011, claiming to 'de-demonise' the party, and expelled her father in 2015 after he again called the Nazi gas chambers a "detail" of World War Two. In 2018, Steve Bannon told RN members: "Let them call you racist, let them call you xenophobes, let them call you nativists. Wear it like a badge of honour." The members gave him a standing ovation.

"The far-right movement and neo-fascists have won in many ways all around the world," Artiges observes. "Even if they're not directly in power, their politics is the centre of attention."

Why did Artiges refuse the assignment at first?

Libération sent Artiges to cover Le Pen during the 2002 campaign. He initially refused, "because the closer you get, the more impacted you are". Le Pen had been repeatedly taken to court for antisemitism, racism and negationism. "There was an ethical issue, 'Do you want to give space to his horrible thoughts?'" Artiges recalls.

The gatekeeping had already failed once. Le Pen complained of a "media boycott" to President Mitterrand in the early 1980s; Mitterrand ordered equitable TV coverage, and in February 1984 Le Pen appeared on prime time for the first time. He later called it "the hour that changed everything".

"He was before social media, from another century, but he had that same ability to occupy space," says Artiges. "He was like a black hole sucking in the light."

Artiges agreed to shoot straight documentary — no portraits, no caricature. On 21 April 2002, Le Pen won 16.86 percent of the first round, second only to Jacques Chirac. "They were hysterical!" Artiges says of the FN camp. "Super, super happy because finally their ideas were being recognised." He also noted violence: "I believe physical violence, men who play on their physical abilities, is part of the far right. It's part of the deal."

The republic then closed ranks. Slogans like 'A crook is better than a fascist' helped Chirac take 82 percent of the second round — the biggest majority since the Fifth Republic began in 1958. Artiges quit the beat.

What do the late portraits show?

Libération sent Artiges back in 2019, after Le Pen announced his retirement. "I wasn't going to shoot the ambulance [kick someone when they were down]," he says of photographing a 90-year-old. Working with writer Tristan Berteloot at Le Pen's lavish, "over-decorated and over-lit" home, Artiges posed him before a bucolic mural. "It's the contrast between the pastoral, green background and Le Pen," he says. "I put him in a comfortable situation but he can't help himself."

A final session came in 2022. The reportage-looking images were stage-managed by Le Pen and his team, Artiges says. One frame shows Le Pen and his wife watching Macron's predicted victory; Marine had still won 42 percent. "If we gain 10 points every [presidential election], next time, we'll win," Jordan Bardella noted on French TV.

Le Pen died in 2025. Artiges's closing claim is the sharpest: "The media has a responsibility in constructing power through representation, it's undeniable." He points to Rupert Murdoch, Vincent Bolloré and the man who "performed a fascist salute" at Trump's inauguration remaining the richest person on Earth. The images, like the politics, outlive the man — and April 2027 will test whether the arc Artiges documented ends where the polls say.