Originally from Lyon, he now travels all over France and the world to capture these meteorological phenomena and thus help scientists understand how they occur.
The storm hunter gives people a glimpse of his perilous missions on social networks, and more particularly, on TikTok.
He is followed by 47,400 people on the short-form video platform. His posts do not fail to provoke reactions of awe and terror from internet users.
They even inspire vocations in some. But this activity is far from being without risk: Tim Samaras died on May 31, 2013, while chasing the El Reno tornado in Oklahoma. This is why Yannick Devesvre also uses social media to alert the public to the dangers of his job.
Breaking taboos
The Frenchman is not the only one showing followers the reality of his unusual job on TikTok.
The app is full of videos showcasing such unusual careers as animal behaviourist, photographer and drone pilot, or even sheep and alpaca shearer.
Katherine McRose first got into professional shearing by randomly answering an ad on Craigslist, according to USA Today.
The American has since opened her own sheep and alpaca shearing business with her partner, Darion. She shares her unusual daily life with her 2.7 million followers via the TikTok account, @rightchoiceshearing. While many people find her shearing videos soothing or entertaining, Katherine McRose says they are primarily educational. They seek to challenge preconceived notions about the world of professional shearing and what the job entails.
Sabrina Beringuier-Salhi is taking a similar path with her own TikTok account, taking followers behind the scenes of her job as a funeral consultant. She shares with her 51,500 followers all the secrets of her profession.
From outlining the protocols and sharing personal anecdotes, to explaining what you should study in order to get into the business of death, she explores and discusses all the aspects of this still largely taboo activity.
The success of these accounts reflects the curiosity that disenchanted young professionals have for jobs they didn’t know existed.
Young people have very different expectations from those of their elders, which explains why they want to move away from the traditional patterns of office work.
More than 70% of Generation Z members say they are willing to take a pay cut in exchange for rewarding or meaningful work, according to a report by the company Zety.
But are they really ready to embrace a career as a luxury picnic organiser or a glass artist?
Ayanna E Jackson, a human resources expert and career coach, thinks so. “I could see someone finding their passion, a career pivot or a side hustle through these videos,” she told HuffPost. “The world of work is not all lawyers, teachers and marketing managers.”