Spanking is what Lucien Pousset, an entrepreneur of humble origin, administers to his noble wife Hermine de Saint Alba. Unfortunately, this "spanking" was witnessed by an inopportune camera. Thus fixed on glossy paper, this disrespectful gesture will become the pictorial symbol of the class struggle: "The People correcting the Reaction". Of course, the couple will do everything to prevent the dissemination of this photograph and above all they will do everything to recover it!