Visa pour l'image: 26 exhibitions to capture the pulse of humanity

For 35 years, Perpignan has become the center that claims the profession of photojournalism. Photographers from all over the world come to Perpignan to attend the new edition that is celebrated year after year and that, inaugurated on August 31, will last until September 15, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. of the evening The Festival, which is designed for a general public, in this edition offers a total of 26 exhibitions open to everyone and which capture the pulse of a humanity with continued democratic deficits. Apart from the exhibitions, documentary stories are projected every evening in the Campo Santo on the giant screen that has been set up for the event.

According to the president of the Association Visa pour l'Image , Pierre Conte : "The Visa pour l'Image festival, which was founded 35 years ago in recognition of professional photojournalism, is currently making a contribution to defend it. In a world where fake news predominates, with risks derived from artificial intelligence without any regulation, and with the chronic lack of funding of the media worldwide, it must be said that the world of photojournalism is threatened but nevertheless this is more essential than ever. It must be said that around forty or even less countries around the world have a system that allows true freedom of the press, of free media and this is very hopeful for us".

To carry out the Visa every year, the organization has partners, patrons and sponsors: public administrations (the City Council of Perpignan, the Ministry of Culture of France, the Region of Occitania, the Department of the Eastern Pyrenees, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Eastern Pyrenees), as well as private entities, ranging from large international companies to small and medium-sized local companies, as well as individuals. Through the support provided by them, Visa pour l'Image can be open to everyone for free. That's how it was at the beginning and 35 years later it's still like that, as a festival that fights for such a noble cause".

For his part, from the publishing house of Visa Pour l'Image, its representative Jean-François Lero , explained that "the dramatic increase in the number of photographers, or at least of people who claim to be, has coincided with a reverse phenomenon that is the demise of picture editors, such as the retirement of Kathy Ryan after 39 years at the New York Times Magazine. At Visa pour l'Image we have an opportunity to pay tribute to these figures who are so often forgotten, but who play a crucial role in maintaining the editorial standards of a newspaper, and also the standards of the entire industry.”

26 exhibitions in the public spaces of Perpignan

During the course of the festival, 26 temporary exhibitions of photography will be open to visitors and most of the samples will be presented online for virtual tours, with access through the Visa pour l'Image website for all those unable to visit Perpignan . It is worth noting the participation of Loay Ayyoub , winner of the Washington Post 2024, who reflects the tragedy of Gaza in his photographs.

The other participants of this edition are:

Karen Ballard (Venice, California), Paula Bronstein (A world in Turmoil), Cinzia Canneri (Women's bodies as Battlefields), Alejandro Cegarra (The Two Walls), Miquel Dewever-Plana (Mayotte: Military service for a second chance), Pierre Faure (On the Fringe of Society in France), Jean-Louis Fernandez (The Comédie-Française, on and off stage), Corentin Fohlen (Haiti and the Power of the Gangs), Jérome Gence (The Screen Generation), Afshin Ismaeli ( Life Under the Taliban, 2.0), Brenda Ann Kenneally (Grown Usptate: The Legacy of Love in the Collar City, 2013-2023), Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (Displaced by the M23), Paolo Manzo (The Invisible City), John Moore ( Ecuador-Internal Armed Conflict), Emilio Morenatti (A Photographer's Journey Through Daily Life, Conflict and Personal Loss), Sergey Ponomarev (West Bank), Ivor Prickett (War on the Nile-Fragmented Sudan), Francisco Proner (Mining Destruction), Anastasia Taylor-Lind (5k From the Frontline), Gaël Turine (The Ravages of Tranq Dope), Advan Denderen (En Route), Mugur Varzariu (Voices Rising Behind the Wall) and Alfred Yaghobzadeh (Alfred's Journey).

The Diputació de Girona present at the OFF Perpinyà Festival and hosts the Visa in Girona

The Girona team participates in a double way in the North Catalonia event. On the one hand, he is present at the OFF Festival, an amateur photojournalism festival in the center of the city of Perinyà during the Visa, the aim of which is to allow amateur photographers to exhibit their work and try to win one of the several prizes that are offer in this event, highlighting the center and shops of the city. The "Coexist" exhibition by Pau de la Calle, from August 31 to September 21, 2024, is this year's proposal from the Provincial Council and can be visited at the Médiatheque in Perpignan.

Also, the other support for the Festival is hosting two exhibitions at the Casa de Cultura de Girona, under the direction of INSPAI, the center that the Diputació de Girona has to convey all the topics on the image. The exhibition "Rechercher, sauver et protéger" by the photographer Michael Bunel, and "Revolts in Iran" by several anonymous Iranian photographers can be seen at the Girona center until September 30, 2024.

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