Big deal, a breath of fresh air and pride for photojournalists

Kevin is a roofer-in-training who loves getting on roofs. From there, he looks at his city. He adores her. The passenger is Lucy. The little neighbor in the back looks a little like their child. During holidays, they carry it everywhere. They're like family, it's funny. But Kevin will never marry. The image is taken from a series — Kevin is a roofer-in-training who loves getting on roofs. From there, he looks at his city. He adores her. The passenger is Lucy. The little neighbor in the back looks a little like their child. During the holidays, they carry it everywhere. They’re like family, it’s funny. But Kevin will never marry. Image taken from the series “It’s Beautiful in Just One Day of Love”, by Stephanie Lacombe.

On the walls of the National Library of France (BNF), France shows an eclectic face to say the least: the exhibition The River and the Labyrinth, entitled “France Under Their Eyes,” presents nearly 500 books. Signed photos from 200 photographers who traveled throughout France, and even to its external borders. The authors, famous or unknown, are the winners of a major national order launched in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic to help photojournalists affected by the sudden end of their activity.

With a record budget of 5.46 million euros and a huge number of scholarship holders, the company launched the title “Radography for France: Perspectives on a Country Hit by the Health Crisis”, And It was run by the National Library ‘On an absolutely unprecedented scale’, confirms Heloise Conissa, curator of the French National Museum. Together with her colleague Emmanuelle Hascoët, she has devoted the last four years intensely to observing the photographers and projects, which have been selected by two successive juries. The numbers are staggering: nearly 1,500 photographers applied for a grant, with a seven-month report, and the prospect of seeing ten prints, on display at a specific location, permanently embedded in national collections.

Read also | 200 photographers affected by the public order in the country

The extraordinary amount of the grant – €22,000 per photographer, to be spent freely – was a breath of fresh financial air for the participants. “The problem was primarily getting them to eat, Summary by Marion Heslin, former photography delegate within the General Directorate of Artistic Creativity at the Ministry of Culture, initiated by the project.. Compared to the major historical commissions of the past, we preferred to have a larger number of winners and less time for projects. Because after Covid, there was panic among photojournalists. »

“Exceptional endowment”

Documentary photographer Lizzie Sadin, who specializes in long-term work on human rights violations, confirms that during the pandemic, for her, “Professionally, everything stopped: no more work, no more income.” Thanks to the grant, she created a duo with documentary filmmaker Juliette Sopra to delve into the difficult topic of domestic violence – a phenomenon that has exploded during incarceration. “This grant allowed me to purchase a quieter device.”She salutes the photographer, who regrets that the amount is taxable, unlike other awards she has received for her work.

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