So many festivals have reopened to the public this year after the pandemic, giving thousands of people a chance to enjoy simple pleasures and perhaps escape the daily grind for a moment. International Festival of Photojournalism, Visa for the imageit does just that and presents a picture of the past that can create a lasting memory.
The event, held in the southern French city of Perpignan, also offers visitors the chance to meet the people behind photos that sometimes go viral or a particular news story of the day.
The Ukrainian war through the lens
Mission creep doesn’t just affect those fighting on the front lines. Even if we are seeing less news about Ukraine in the media, in Perpignan, the conflict is everywhere.
The director of the festival, Jean-François Leroy, reminds us that “since 2014, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists has registered the death of twenty journalists in Ukraine”.
On the walls of Caserne Gallieni in the center of the city, visitors can observe and admire the extraordinary work of Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka, two Ukrainian photographers who covered the siege of Mariupol for the Associated Press.
The tragic story of a young child, Kirill, is told frame by frame over more than 18 months: his father holding him in his arms, doctors trying to save his life and his parents grieving his death.
Euronews Culture bumped into Evgeniy Maloletka as he was leaving the exhibition in Bucha. His photo is on every poster of the festival.
“All the platforms to show the reality on the ground are important. We appreciate that all the work we did in Mariupol is getting stronger, but when we were there, we didn’t understand. It was really terrible and disturbing. We were trying to we survived and to show how it was, with a special focus on the medical and humanitarian staff”.
When asked about his departure from the city, he explained that it was becoming impossible to work: the hospital was surrounded, the next building was occupied by Russian troops, and there were strikes every 20 minutes. His thoughts are with the people who helped him and his colleague leave.
His work has been nominated for the Visa d’Or News, one of the main awards of the festival.
A window to the world
Ukraine is not the only focus. For Leroy, the program should not be limited “to a single event, no matter how important.” A key theme this year is the environment, with eye-opening exhibits designed to resonate and stop visitors in their tracks.
Alain Ernoult turned from a war photojournalist into a wildlife photographer. His work is dedicated to endangered species and the 6th Extinction. His photos echo Brent Stirton’s work on meat and epidemics, a project he began two years before the pandemic. A timely reminder that photojournalists can be both witnesses and whistleblowers.
On the wall of the Dominican church, visitors are confronted with images of women dressed in beige prison uniforms. Ana María Arévalo Gose’s camera takes us inside the female prisons of Latin America and documents everyday life, boredom and debauchery. Many of these women see their basic rights denied behind bars. Last year, Arévalo Gose won the Camille Lepage prize, named after the French journalist killed in the Central African Republic in 2014.
Celebrating those who take risks
During its two-week duration, about 300,000 visit the festival.
“I think photography is more surprising than videos because it’s a frozen moment, it’s harsher and more memorable,” says Eric, a visitor from Montpellier. His friend Maxime agrees. “Facial expression through photography, that’s what it’s all about.”
In an increasingly precarious profession, with an increasing number of freelancers and photographers working with adequate safety or protection measures such as insurance, bulletproof vests or even helmets, Visa pour l’image reminds us of the value and cost of making pictures to capture the world.
As French freelance photojournalist Jean-Claude Coutausse writes: “An image never tells the truth, but we can avoid making it lie.”
Visa pour l’image takes place in Perpignan until September 11. Some of the works can be seen online at the website: https://www.visapourlimage.com/
