31st Visa pour l’Image – Perpignan

Mexico, Venezuela, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, North Korea, China, Russia, Syria, Bangladesh and Hungary are countries with a sad reputation for violations of freedom of the press, and unfortunately the list does not stop there.
We could add Malta, and even Northern Ireland. Occasionally there has been some good news: Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the two Reuters journalists arrested when investigating a massacre of ten Rohingya civilians, were released as part of a presidential amnesty. In Egypt, Shawkan was released, but with restrictive conditions applying. In Bangladesh, Shahidul Alam has been released, for the moment, on bail. Any number of other examples can be found of journalists killed, injured or imprisoned, and every year the figures are shocking. All their names deserve to be cited. Since the beginning of 2019, 20 journalists have been killed, and 341 are in prison.
In France too we can see reporters targeted, attacked by demonstrators and police without any major public outcry. Causes and professional ethics must be defended; journalists’ sources must be protected. One day the European Union, or even the United Nations will have to reach agreement on the definition of a journalist. Conditions for issuing press cards change from country to country, and there should be a standardized approach so that all journalists have the same rights, which means, of course, that they have the same duties. But this is not the way things are going at the moment. Certain politicians, even in leading democracies, will readily criticize journalists for doing their job, particularly when reports might leave them in an awkward situation. The general public is increasingly skeptical and wary of the media. Everything needs to be reviewed; questions need to be asked for trust to be restored. The right to report on news stories and conduct investigations freely is a basic pillar of democracy. That should go without saying, yet it needs to be stated loud and clear, again and again.
In Perpignan, we shall continue to present stories from around the world. We believe in journalism, and our commitment is greater than ever.

Jean-François Leroy
July 2019

EXHIBITIONS
Cyril Abad – In God we trust: faith and eccentricity in the United States
Lynsey Addario – Maternal mortality
Guillermo Arias – The Caravan
Valerio Bispuri – Prisoners
Patrick Chauvel – 50 years on the front line
Olivier Coret – France’s Yellow vests – Les gilets jaunes
Abdulmonam Eassa – The unhoped-for end to the siege
Éric Hadj – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Yellow vests, Sunday
Ed Jones – The Koreas – Across the peninsula
Alain Keler – Diary of a photographer
Adriana Loureiro Fernandez – Paradise lost
Kirsten Luce – The dark side of the wildlife tourism
Pascal Maitre – The Sahel in danger – a time bomb
Laura Morton – University avenue
Frédéric Noy – Lake Victoria, slowly dying
Louie Palu – Distant early warning
Ivor Prickett – End of the caliphate
Brent Stirton – Rangers
Kasia Strek – The price of choice
Goran Tomasevic – Another civil war in Libya
Lorenzo Tugnoli – The crisis in Yemen
Dar Yasin – Kashmir : endless war
Alvaro Ybarra Zavala – 1984 Venezuela
International Daily Press

Visa d’or
Visa d’or News Award: Guillermo Arias
Visa d’or Feature Award: Frédéric Noy
Visa d’or Daily Press Award: Libération (France)
ICRC Humanitarian Visa d’or Award – International Committee of the Red Cross: Abdulmonam Eassa
Figaro Magazine Lifetime Achievement Visa d’or Award: William Albert Allard
Visa d’or franceinfos: Award for the Best Digital News Story: Lorenzo Tugnoli

Awards
Canon Female Photojournalist Award: Anush Babajanyan
Ville de Perpignan Rémi Ochlik Award:: Adriana Loureiro Fernandez
Pierre et Alexandra Boulat Award: Axelle de Russé
Prix Photo – Foundation Yves Rocher Award: Nadia Shira Cohen
Camille Lepage Award: Thomas Morel-Fort
Ani-Pixtrakk Award: Nicolas Krief