Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — A couple embraces each other in front of a 750-horsepower Volvo truck, and their looks match the bodywork of a commercial vehicle.
Although the image suggests that two lovers are on a road trip together, they are not in the truck at the same time, as Amelie Riquelme is driving the truck.
Riquelme, who grew up in Arles, France, operates in a sector that has long struggled to attract women and youth, and the lack of drivers has become a critical problem amid a severe global shortage.
In Europe and the world, the number of female truck drivers is less than 3%, according to a 2022 survey by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), and a handful of young men are filling the gap widened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Riquelme works for her family’s transportation company, and when photographer Johan LeMoliere met her in 2019, the young woman was driving her truck from Arles to Castellón, Spain and back at least twice a week, LeMoliere explained via email.
Image: Yohanne Lamoulère/Mobile Lives Forum/Trends
The length of the busy road is about 1,365 kilometres.
The company was founded by her grandfather, and employs several members of her family in various positions, and her former partner Jeremy, pictured above, was also an employee.
The couple were newly engaged in the photo taken in August 2021, but have since ended their relationship.
determination
Lamoulere’s work often explores lifestyles on the outskirts of major French cities, and the goals of the people who live there.
The photographer, whose uncle also works as a truck driver for the family business, met Amelie at a truck fair in southeastern France, where drivers dress up their vehicles for competitions.
The young woman’s sense of determination caught the attention of the photographer, as Requelme left her studies in the field of cosmetology to complete her career in trucking and follow in the footsteps of her father and grandfather.
“Amelie is a very organized girl. When I met her, she was only 20, but she has arranged her life in a very impressive way,” said Lamoliere, adding that she is also “a very free-spirited, very entertaining person.”
Although Lamoulere documented the various stages of Riquelme’s life over the course of two years, this snapshot was very important.
During her sister Lucy’s country wedding, which included a procession of family vans and required guests to wear white, Jeremy and Lucy planned to organize a surprise for Requelme.
Instead of throwing the bouquet traditionally, Lucy hands it directly to her sister, and Jeremy then proposes to her.
Lamoulere documented her photo of the duo in front of a Requelme truck, with the package placed on the dashboard.
The image is part of a series called “The Lives We Lead” by French photography group “Tendance Floue”.
The collection of works on everyday life across France has been turned into a book of the same name, exhibited in Paris and shown at the international photography fair Paris Photo in the fall.
Despite the couple’s separation, Lamoulere loves the image because of its emotional resonance, and its embodiment of Riquelme’s independent spirit.
The photographer noted that it is rare to see a young woman “on a monster like Amelie’s truck”, and also believes that it is “very beautiful” to see her making her own way.
And it will need more people like Amelie to fill the drivers’ seats to keep the trucking industry going.
