This week we celebrate the 28th edition of Visa pour L’Image, which opens this Saturday. It’s a fantastic line up once again showcasing some of the most important reportage work, that which is known and also that which flies under the radar and perhaps doesn’t garner the attention it should.
This week Friday Round Up previews the work of four female photojournalists exhibiting at Visa – Marie Dorigny, Catalina Martin-Chico, Anastasia Rudenko and Claire Allard. Next week more on the world's most important, and longest running, photojournalism festival in the beautiful French town of Perpignan.
Feature:
Visa pour l’Image: Part One
Four Female Photojournalists
Marie Dorigny:
Displaced - Women in Exile
In a report commissioned by the European Parliament, French photographer Marie Dorigny documents the women and children, who now make up more than half of the refugees who are fleeing war, violence and terror.
Lesbos, Greece. A young Greek volunteer with a sea rescue team comforting a distressed and pregnant Iraqi refugee who has just made the crossing from Turkey. © Marie Dorigny / MYOP for the European Parliament 2016
Hotspot, Moria, Lesbos, Greece. Refugees who reach Europe first register at the “hot spot” where they are sorted according to nationality. The waiting seems interminable as the formalities go on and on. © Marie Dorigny / MYOP for the European Parliament 2016
Catalina Martin-Chico:
The Last and the Lost - The Brave Nomads of Iran
A century ago there were five million nomadic people in Iran. Today they number only 1.5 million. While many are trying to assimilate into urban environments and adapt to a sedentary existence, others continue to lead a traditional nomadic lifestyle, but it is feared they will disappear as the government moves to end their roaming.
During transhumance, the Bakhtiari people, such as Mahsan and her family, spend the night at a different point so that their animals can graze on fresh pastures. Shirin Bahar, near Lali, Khuzestan, Iran, April 2016. © Catalina Martin-Chico / Cosmos
Primary schooling in the mountains to learn basic literacy and numeracy. For any further education the children have to move to the city and abandon their traditional nomadic lifestyle. Near Qir, Fars province, Iran, February 2016. © Catalina Martin-Chico / Cosmos
Zohreh and her sister-in-law, their bodies misshapen from their harsh living conditions. For nomads, “women are men” so that means doing the same physical work. Basoft, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran, April 2016. © Catalina Martin-Chico / Cosmos
Anastasia Rudenko:
Institutions for the Mentally Disabled in Russia
In this series, Anastasia Rudenko, who won the Canon Female Photojournalist Award 2015 (supported by ELLE magazine) is pursuing the project she started in 2012, investigating life in institutions for mentally disabled people in the Russian provinces. According to official statistics in 2013 there were more than 1,000 mental care centres for adults in Russia. 150,000 patients reside in these centres including 50,000 who are in long-term social care institutions known as Internats, which are for adults who were previously housed in orphanages for mentally disabled children.
Women near the fire bucket stand outside the women's asylum.
Over the past three years more than 100 patients in mental institutions in Russia have been victims of fires. Ryazan region, Russia, 2015.
© Anastasia Rudenko
The “House of Mercy” is a facility for severely dysfunctional patients, and those likely to run away and get lost. Ryazan region, Russia, 2015. © Anastasia Rudenko
Patients walking in the forest near the village. Elat’ma, Ryazan region, Russia, 2012. © Anastasia Rudenko
Claire Allard:
Backstage
This series by Claire Allard extends over a number of years in which she followed and observed the technical crews who work behind the scenes to make sure the show goes on.
During an alternative music festival, Yann, the lighting technician, is doing an emergency repair perched on the scaffolding – a great vantage point for the concert. © Claire Allard
Summer is the peak season for rock festivals across Europe, and technicians rarely have a break. Here, Thierry, the sound engineer, is busy setting the stage speakers. Other crew members have brought him something to eat. Ronquières Festival, Belgium, August 2, 2015. © Claire Allard
To see the full programme visit the
Visa pour l'Image website.
