Visa Pour l’Image Photojournalism Festival Rolls Out 2016 Agenda

3 minute read
A baby girl lies in an observation room after suffering burns from an oil heater at home at the MSF administered Boost Hospital in the capital of Helmand Province, Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan.
A baby girl lies in an observation room after suffering burns from an oil heater at home at the MSF administered Boost Hospital in the capital of Helmand Province, Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan.Visa Pour l'Image Participant Andrew Quilty—Oculi / Agence V
By Rachel Lowry

Thousands of photo enthusiasts are set to return to Perpignan, France, in early September for the 28th edition of Visa pour l’Image, the world’s largest photojournalism festival.

“Last year in Perpignan, there was a feeling of bubbling energy,” says Jean-François Leroy, Visa pour l’Image director, in a statement. “Lamentations about the press not producing enough photojournalistic reports appeared to be a thing of the past. We felt a genuine sense of enthusiasm”

In the context of two major stories that were thrown into the limelight this year—Europe’s terrorist attacks and the refugee crisis—Leroy unveiled a lineup from some of the 25 exhibitions that feature photographers tackling these urgent issues, starting with Yuri Kozyrev’s work for National Geographic Magazine that examines how the Kurds are reshaping Northeastern Iraq amid the growing threat of ISIS.

Other photographers on show include Peter Bauza, who covered the lives of some 300 families living in substandard housing conditions in Brazil for Echo Photojournalism, and Claire Allard and her Backstage, which illuminates the working conditions of French stage crews whose long shifts and laborious routines behind the curtain deserves recognition.

Valerio Bispuri’s Paco, A Drug Story will also be on display, investigating the production, trafficking and consumption of a highly addictive drug called “Paco” in Argentina and other South America countries.

Also on show is Australian photographer Andrew Quilty, who will present, in an exhibition curated by TIME LightBox’s editor Olivier Laurent, his work documenting the aftermath of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Fifteen years after the launch of the war in Afghanistan, the country has mostly disappeared from front page news. “Yet the war continues, and worse than ever,” Quilty writes. “More Afghan security forces were killed in 2015 than U.S. forces in the entire war, and the Taliban now control more territory than in 2001 when they were defeated.”

Quilty has spent the last three years in Kabul to provide the much-needed coverage of this forgotten war. His exhibition will include work done in Kunduz, where he photographed the aftermath of the U.S. airstrike on the M.S.F. hospital that left 42 dead.

Eyewitness to Hope and Hell in South Sudan

A mother prepares food for her child at a United Nations camp, where more than 100,00 displaced people seek security and food, in Bentiu, People walk past a drainage ditch in the United Nations camp in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.
A mother prepares food for her child at a United Nations camp, where more than 100,00 displaced people seek security and food, in Bentiu, People walk past a drainage ditch in the United Nations camp in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
People walk past a drainage ditch in the United Nations camp in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.
People walk past a drainage ditch in the United Nations camp in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
After receiving food at a distribution site, a woman and her five children walk through the cold swamps at dusk to her hiding place on Kok Island, Unity State, South Sudan.
After receiving food at a distribution site, a woman and her five children walk through the cold swamps at dusk to her hiding place on Kok Island, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
A child cries after walking through the cold swamps at night after collecting long awaited food distribution, Kok Island, Unity State, South Sudan.
A child cries after walking through the cold swamps at night after collecting long awaited food distribution, Kok Island, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
Peter Gatlek, 50, sits on a hospital bed after receiving new bandages at the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Lankien, Jonglei State, South Sudan. He was shot in the head while trying to escape a raid by government forces in his home village near Leer in Unity State.
Peter Gatlek, 50, sits on a hospital bed after receiving new bandages at the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Lankien, Jonglei State, South Sudan. He was shot in the head while trying to escape a raid by government forces in his home village near Leer in Unity State.Dominic Nahr
Per Chan, 60, rests inside the surgical ward in the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Lankien, Jonglei State, South Sudan. He was shot in the leg while trying to escape a raid by government forces in his village near Leer in Unity State.
Per Chan, 60, rests inside the surgical ward in the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Lankien, Jonglei State, South Sudan. He was shot in the leg while trying to escape a raid by government forces in his village near Leer in Unity State.Dominic Nahr
A Doctors Without Borders worker writes the date and time that Koy Gotkuoth Riak, 40, died of sepsis at a camp for civilians in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.
A Doctors Without Borders worker writes the date and time that Koy Gotkuoth Riak, 40, died of sepsis at a camp for civilians in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
A Doctors Without Borders worker holds the body of a baby that died from malnutrition at a camp for civilians in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.
A Doctors Without Borders worker holds the body of a baby that died from malnutrition at a camp for civilians in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
An aerial view of the empty and completely destroyed town of Leer, Unity State, South Sudan.
An aerial view of the empty and completely destroyed town of Leer, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
Medical charts are scattered on the ground inside the looted and abandoned Doctors Without Borders hospital in Leer, Unity State, South Sudan.
Medical charts are scattered on the ground inside the looted and abandoned Doctors Without Borders hospital in Leer, Unity State, South Sudan. Dominic Nahr
An aerial view of thousands of people waiting in line for food distribution in the otherwise empty and destroyed town of Leer, Unity State, South Sudan.
An aerial view of thousands of people waiting in line for food distribution in the otherwise empty and destroyed town of Leer, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
A mother holds her baby inside an abandoned building covered in graffiti, where over a dozen families have sought refuge from fighting, in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan.
A mother holds her baby inside an abandoned building covered in graffiti, where over a dozen families have sought refuge from fighting, in Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan. Dominic Nahr
Two boys stand next to a plane that brought medical supplies to Doctors Without Borders in Leer, Unity State, South Sudan. Due to the continuing insecurity and lack of infrastructure, the only way to supply the rural hospital is by air.
Two boys stand next to a plane that brought medical supplies to Doctors Without Borders in Leer, Unity State, South Sudan. Due to the continuing insecurity and lack of infrastructure, the only way to supply the rural hospital is by air. Dominic Nahr
Hundreds of people receive their first distribution of food for malnourished children in Koch, Unity State, South Sudan.
Hundreds of people receive their first distribution of food for malnourished children in Koch, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr
A staff worker with Doctors Without Borders helps a young boy cross a swamp at dusk to Kok Island, Unity State, South Sudan.
A staff worker with Doctors Without Borders helps a young boy cross a swamp at dusk to Kok Island, Unity State, South Sudan.Dominic Nahr

Also presented will be Dominic Nahr’s coverage of the aftermath of South Sudan’s independence and the fallout of political tension on civilian victims; Frédéric Noy’s look at the ostracization of LGBTI communities in East Africap; Marc Riboud’s 1963 work on Fidel Castro in Cuba during the Kennedy assassination; and Anastasia Rudenko’s project on institutions for the mentally disabled in Russia.

The festival runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 11, 2016 across 10 different venues in Perpignan, France.

Rachel Lowry is a writer and contributor for TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

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