In the first few days of the Perpignan, France-based Visa pour l'Image, the festival is determined to prove what its home-page movie has been screaming at the top of its lungs: photojournalism is not dead. In addition to new content from around the world, the festival offers new awards, grants and technologies—and an apparently better mood than predicted by industry pundits.
Callie Shell's political photojournalism, on exhibit at the Eglise des Dominicains, is getting much attention. Shell's work is an example of a case where the photographer saw the story before everyone else: While covering the John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign for TIME, Shell's attention was caught by then little-known Barack Obama. She managed to persuade her editors to cover the politician in more detail well before he announced his candidacy for the highest U.S. office.
Boston photographer Margaret Crow is the winner of a new grant from the Pierre and Alexandra Boulat Foundation. The grant aims to encourage photojournalism. Crow won for "Love me: Lost in the cycle of poverty," which documents the life of 17-year-old April from Ohio.
This year's festival has also upped its focus on technology and the opportunities afforded by online content distribution. In particular, there is a new award for Web documentaries, recognized as a new and important way of featuring photojournalism. The festival itself has also gotten hip to high-tech tools: in addition to a constantly updated Web site, it now streams programming via a custom iPhone and iPod Touch app that offers detailed list, descriptions and map-based directions to all Visa pour l'Image exhibitions around Perpignan.
From child labor in Nepal to continued conflicts in several African countries, this year's exhibits present work by well-known and emerging photojournalists. Those wishing to keep up with events from afar can follow the festival’s news and blog columns.