Visa pour l'image festival highlights photojournalism's vital role

The annual Visa pour l'image festival in Perpignan, a premier international gathering for photojournalism, opens its 38th edition this weekend. The event serves as a crucial platform to defend and illuminate the work of press photographers, whose role is deemed essential in remembering the victims of conflicts.

The festival's organizers note a recurring sense of "immutable rituals" in the world's conflicts, often featuring similar images and photographers. However, they stress that the victims are always new, each with a name, memories, and a life. Photographers are tasked with ensuring these lives are not forgotten, documenting the wounded, the murdered, and the neglected.

These photojournalists increasingly venture into difficult terrains alone, facing risks that can jeopardize the publication of their reports. Their dedication is central to the festival's mission, which aims to shed light on this necessary profession and the profound human impact of global events.