France's world photojournalism festival brings life on the margins into frame

RFI

31 August 2024 at 4:24 am·1-min read

Opening on Saturday in the south of France, this year's Visa pour l'Image festival of photojournalism features 26 exhibitions from the Palestinian territories, Mexico, Ukraine and Haiti among others, with a particular focus on society's outcasts.

Many of the works selected for the annual photo festival in Perpignan, now in its 36th year, have to do with exclusion, poverty and life on the margins.

"When we hear Trump or Orban speeches and all these populists who make exclusion a key part of their programmes, we think it's important to draw the public's attention to that," Jean-François Leroy, the festival's director, told French news agency AFP.

Poverty across borders

A multi-year reportage by Pierre Faure explores the theme of poverty in France, while Karen Ballard and Brenda Ann Kenneally look at the decline of the American empire – photographing the other side of Venice Beach, California, or the misery of a working-class family in New York State.

Other photographers turn their lens on walls built to keep out or repel others.

Alejandro Cegarra captures the barriers encountered by migrants in Mexico, while Mugur Varzariu spotlights the segregation of Roma people in Romania.

Leroy praised the "varied" and "heterogeneous" view of events offered by the photographers.

Even after 36 years, he said, "I'm always pleasantly surprised by the proposals I receive".

Other series present scenes from some of the year's most intense conflicts.

(with AFP)

► Visa pour l'Image runs from 31 August to 15 September 2024.

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Poverty across borders

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