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Visa pour l'Image - the honey pot of photojournalism (19.09.2013)
Text: Kaupo Kikkas
Photos: Aivar Pihelgas
Visa pour l’Image festival was this year held in Perpignan, France for the 25th time. In the world of photojournalism, it is considered as important as the Cannes’ film festival. It includes the best exhibitions of this genre, night-time photo screenings and this festival is attended by the biggest names in the photojournalism from the past and from today.
In the historical old town of Perpignan, a unique synergy is born when during the festival, photography is mixed with architecture and culture. Many historical places such as the Jewish block Le couvent des minime, 17th century prison and Dominican monastery turn into major exhibition halls. In addition to formal exhibitions, there are tens of off-visa exhibitions in the city that are not part of the official program; so all in all it is possible to see over a hundred exhibitions. At nights, there are photo screenings at the Campo Santo monastery square where the photo displayed on a 20-metre screen from five searchlights under the night sky is a unique experience. Latecomers are not let in and during those breath-taking series, 3000 people remain totally silent. While the photographers go to Perpignan for one week, the exhibitions are up for one month and so, 250 000 people can take part in them all together.
This year, the festival celebrated its 25th birthday. From the beginning, this festival has been held under the firm hand of Jean-Francois Leroy and it has his name written all over it. He even jokes about it saying that the only ideology and criteria are his bad taste. But through the years, Leroy’s taste has formed the festival into such an important event that the biggest press photography and photojournalism agencies are present in Perpignan such as AP, AFP and Getty Images; their presence means that the festival is a unique stepping stone for younger photographers who are intensively searching for an opportunity and ways to prove themselves.
The festival puts emphasis on the classical photojournalism which is mostly represented by different series from the hotspots and theatres of warfare from all over the world but the „softer side“ of the photojournalism is also represented – psychologically strained personal stories, political competitions and nature. This year, the latter was taken care of by National Geographic magazine (NG), which also celebrates its 125th birthday. NG also held a panel discussion at the conference during which, the authors of the photo stories inside of the soon to be published anniversary number sat in row and next to them sat their “boss“, the head editor of the magazine, Sarah Leen. I shall talk about two series from the NG team: Michael Nichols and his lions’ project and Pyongyang from David Guttenfelder.
Guttenfelder is probably the only photographer in the world who has a little bit of moving space in North-Korea. It all started in 2001 when Associated Press (AP) expressed their will to open a city desk in Pyongyang to introduce the local “black hole“ to the world even just a little bit. Time passed and today, AP has a small news department in North-Korea that produces photos, films and news. I ask Guttenfelder directly about the price of it all – why would a totalitarian regime allow the presence of a critical news agency? I got a fairly vague but sincere response: “Even Kim understands that during the internet era, it is essential to be part of the media space at least in some way and even if the news are critical, it is important for him to be on the picture and spread his message whenever possible.“ For the photographer this kind of freedom has a price. David describes how during his first visit to Pyongyang, the windows of his bus and hotel room where covered with black plastic bags so that he wouldn’t see or photograph anything he shouldn’t. Today, after his 30th trip to North-Korea, his position allows him not to be controlled by the Pyongyang censor but this freedom lasts until the first mistake. Thus, Guttenfelder’s photo language is very restrained and more silent that loudly speaking. To sum up, he mentions: “Every day, I ask myself those ethical questions. But when we have to choose whether we have my photos or no photos at all...? In the end, it is the reader’s decision what to believe...“
Michael "Nick" Nichols’ large-scale lions’ project is the only NG’s physical exhibition in Perpignan (the series’ of other authors are presented at night-time screenings) and it is very notable for me. The results can be described as a unique closeness to the lions but it is the technical nuances that make the results notable. Just like the drones that kill people in Pakistan, can also take photos and lighten the subjects, Nichols has captured the most special moments with the help of robots, mini helicopters and infrared light and the lions have been photographed almost without disturbance. The presence of this technology is no news these days, but the professional, goal-minded and continuous use of it in the NG’s photo language is new and first of kind. And another fact from another important exhibition – the winning photos of the World Press Photo sports department that display team sports are both photographed with remote controlled cameras attached to the ceiling. Maybe this is where we see the inevitable power of technocracy – next to photography, it is the photographer’s new characteristics and knowledge that start to play an important role. Here, I might add NG’s photo editors’ belief that their photographers need to start creating a moving picture and the focus of the magazine is moving towards interactivity and digital edition. Even the life of those on the top is changing and the focus of the paradigm catches a lot of new things and getting used to them is hard even for the masters.
The two most large-scale exhibitions in Perpignan are about war photojournalism and both can be called as notable landmarks. Don McCullin’s "The Impossible Peace" and Joao Silva’s "Retrospective". Those man can be called living legends although the public knows rather little about them. Maybe this is the faith of the war photographers, the tragedy speaks for itself from an anonymous author as if the author is unnecessary and the death is the absolute. McCullin and Silva remain uncommunicative and modest when receiving the awards stressing that since they photograph other people’s worry and death, it is not appropriate to be happy. The photo series of those men are randomly in the perfect succession. Where McCullin finishes, Silva starts both in historical and photo esthetical point of view. Another random and strange fact is that McCullin (born in 1935) and Silva (born in 1966) both recently arrived from Syria and neither of them was there on a vacation.
"The Impossible Peace" is held at the Dominican monastery which is nowadays turned into a wonderful exhibition hall. The series starts with the life in English province during the post-war depression, runs through all kinds of conflicts from Africa to Balkans and ends with the bloody conflicts of the rebels in Northern Ireland. You cannot find emotional compassion or vulgar bloodiness; the photos are visually beautiful and ugly via clear language. The death varies with pastoral landscape or calming portrait and it is all picturesque and melancholic. Black and white framed photos work especially well in the monastery environment where the exhibition gains a certain type of apocalyptic sacrality. I only wonder where we could fit those photographs in Estonia and where would those thousands of people be who would watch them…
Silva is a totally different man. His photo language is more forceful, it has stronger opinions and it is not maybe so picturesque. Basically, from the first moment, his hands touched the camera, he has been capturing death and conflicts. Silva just arrived from Syria to give a lecture and be present at his own retrospective. He is a war wolf who doesn’t have a smile on his face. This man lost both of his legs during the land mine explosion in Afghanistan and has later commented: “It didn’t come as a surprise to me because I knew that someday, it might happen and my time to feel the pain would come.” Two and a half years of operation theatres have not stopped him and he is going to go back soon. He sums up by saying: “There is so much more to learn…”
Prestige awards are also an important part of the festival – best news photo, best theme story, life’s work award and the best female photojournalist award. In Addition, there are many other scholarships and special prizes. I would like to name some names that I remember the most from this year's winners. Some of them are known and award winners, some at the beginning of their career: Laurent Van Der Stockt, Noriko Hayashi, Sebastiano Tomada, Mary F. Calvert and our Northern neighbour Niklas Meltio fromHelsingin Sanomat.
The 26th Visa pour l'Image is held in Perpignan in September 2014. Visual thrills are guaranteed and in addition, it is possible to meet and talk to the photographers and idols in effortless environment and it all takes place in Perpignan old town.
