Jean-François Leroy in his Editorial (pdf-file) for the 16th International Festival of Photojournalism (August 28th – September 12th 2004; Pro-week: August 30th – September 5th):
This year, as you all realize, the very existence of Visa pour l’Image was in the balance.
We were somewhat shattered, wondering what life would be like without meeting up for this annual event.The solution finally turned up and we will back in Perpignan again this September! But this has made us aware of just how fragile we are. All your expressions of support and encouragement from around the world were certainly heartening and showed how important Visa pour l’Image has been for photographers, agencies, groups and cooperatives, magazines and the general public. Our thanks go to all of you for the trust you have placed in us.
On a more photographic concern, there has been the publication of the photos of Iraqi prisoners: amateur photos which have gone around the world, making people aware, or reminding them, of the role and power a picture has. Now, isn’t that what we’ve been saying over and over again for the last sixteen years?
This year about 30 exhibitions will be presented and numerous evening slide shows and presentations. The annual SYMPOSIUM (September 2nd and 3rd, from 2.30pm to 5.30pm) covers:
Presentations and debates will focus on two series of questions:Philosophers, academics, researchers, historians, photographers and journalists take part in panel discussions, together with input from audiences of several hundred. The program is being developed with Dominique Wolton, research director (communication & politics, CNRS) and editor of the review “HERMES”; he will be present, together with other researchers, on both dates. Other contributors (tentative list): Howard S. Becker (sociologist, University of California), Patrick Bard (photojournalist), Michelle McNally (picture editor, New York Times).
1) – The importance of photography in a world dominated by television
Why and how are still pictures remembered, while television visuals are invariably forgotten?
The situation seems to be widespread, with a few rare exceptions when there is no live photograph of a certain event. But even in such cases, television visuals are remembered as freeze-frames, thus a photograph becomes the intermediary for a televised shot!
While television has an immediate audience, a still picture can remain imprinted in the memory.
It is very rare for a picture produced for television to become an icon.
A photograph of an event can remain in people’s memories, can become a cultural phenomenon that goes beyond the news story, achieving the status of icon or myth.
2) – Technology and Ethics
The upheavals caused by the use of digital technology (the subject of Ignacio Ramonet’s presentation in 2002), have already changed working conditions for photojournalists. But surely there is a long-term risk of changing the job and professional practice of photojournalists.
Are ethics and the professional code of practice likely to be compromised if photojournalists are turned into “drones”?
Will technological advances affect the moral commitment of photojournalists in relation to their ultimate audience (i.e. the readers)?
What assessment (either positive or negative) can be made of the use of digital photography?
Newbies should visit the section with clips for a first visual impression. Last year 174.000 visitors entered the exhibitions (TOTAL ENTRANCE since 1989: 1.649.098 !), 270 photo agencies participated. For submitters as always: "May we remind you that we are en International Festival of Photojournalism, and that we deal with current events and are not interested in art photogaphy."
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