The 29th International Festival of Photojournalism – Visa pour l’Image

The Collapse of the Caliphate, Development and Pollution in China, The Spread of Islam in Cuba, Juveniles in Prison, Human Trafficking – The Scourge of Nepal, Berbers in Morocco, resisting and defending their culture, Dreamers – Life on an Indian Reservation, Widowhood – what it means in Bosnia, India and Uganda, Italy Rent Asunder – after the earthquake, and The Battle of Mosul. These were just some of the titles of the exhibitions at The 29th International Festival of Photojournalism, which took place in Perpignan recently.

I have been coming to this part of France for some time, but this year was the first opportunity that I have had to visit this internationally renowned festival and exhibition which takes place in the first half of September every year. In ten different venues spread throughout the city, thousands of photographs are on display, the work of photojournalists from around the world. Add to this a further ninety smaller venues, where locals and others from around the world display their photographs in cafés, shop windows, bars, business offices, hotels, convents and hospitals, and you begin to see the scale of this event.

(Perhaps the most impressive of the many venues, L’Église des Dominicans)

It was Salvador Dali who, when stepping out of the railway station at Perpignan and surveying the city, declared that he was standing at “the centre of the world”. I have always thought this a very strange statement, but over the past two weeks he would have been right; Perpignan was indeed at the centre of the world of photojournalism, and tens of thousands of people have visited its exhibitions and hopefully been inspired by the photo essays and stories that stir our consciences. For these photographs are not “breaking news”, these are photographs that tell in story-form man’s inhumanity to man, that tell of racism and fanaticism, that speak to us of some of the forgotten people of our planet, and pictorial essays about the damage we are doing to our world.

(Berbers in Marocco, resisting and defending their culture, part of the exhibition of photographs by Ferhat Bouda)

The exhibition was a real eye-opener for me, and the friends who were with me. Had we heard before how Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were funding the spread of Islam in Cuba? Did we realise that between 1980 and 2000, women accounted for 20% of all deaths and disappearances during the period of terrorism in Peru? Did we know that they were murdered, or compelled to be part of subversive groups, or forced into unwanted marriages and sexually abused? Or did we know that in the USA, the richest country on earth, that the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is said to be the poorest place in America, with 85% unemployment, and the country’s worst life expectancy, 47 years for men, and 52 for women? I certainly had not realised that in parts of Bosnia, India, and Uganda, widowhood can mean social death for a woman, relegating her and her children to the fringes of society. Like everyone else, I have seen television images of the wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, sanitised for public consumption; here they were realistic, personal, and horrifying.

It would be impossible to describe all of the exhibits, but one which had a profound impact on me, and the friends with me, was the outdoor display in front of the Palais des Congrès, entitled Night falls over Europe, which documented the plight of refugees fleeing for safety to Europe, only to be faced with the closing doors of our continent.

(La Nuit tombe sur l’Europe, describing Europe’s shameful policies towards refugees)

This festival and exhibition is now a firmly fixed event in the life of the city of Perpignan, and one that is well worth a visit. There is so much to see, and so much to learn. I consider myself to be reasonably well informed on world events, mainly through reading a quality newspaper, and watching television news bulletins, but so much of what is happening in our world is not considered newsworthy by those who bring the news to us. This exhibition draws our attention to so much more than the mainstream media offer us. I shall certainly make sure that I am in this part of the world next September for the 30th International Festival of Photojournalism.

(Photos from the exhibition, Crowds and Solitude in Africa, by Marco Longari who has been observing Africa for many years)