With stories ranging from politics, the border wall, immigration, the homeless, the LA porn industry, the weed industry, religion, culture, school reopening, and what daily life during the pandemic is like in this troubled nation, Ed’s journey across America took the pulse of a country preparing for its upcoming election.

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In “Telework,” Jérôme explores the especially relevant topic of the transformation of working methods, and poses the question “what trends and behaviors will emerge on the side of companies and their employees?”

The Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award, sponsored for the sixth time by LaScam (société civile des auteurs multimedia), is designed to help a photographer carry out an original reporting project through an 8,000€ endowment.

This award was established by the Pierre and Alexandra Boulat Association to promote the creation of documentary work with a social purpose. Formed in the memory of Pierre and Alexandra Boulat by friends and family after the death of VII founding member Alexandra Boulat in 2007, the Association seeks to keep the spirit of father and daughter alive through making their work available to the public and creating an annual grant to a photographer and sponsoring the education of young photographers.

This year’s jury members included Dimitri Beck from Polka Magazine, Jean-François Camp, Cyril Drouhet from Figaro Magazine, Delphine Lelu from Image Evidence, Noël Quidu, freelance photographer and Tomas van Houtryve, a photographer from VII Photo Agency, representing La Scam.

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The exhibition is intended to provide an overview of contemporary Algerian photography in its plurality, richness, and diversity against the background of its currently limited international reach.

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Daniel Owino, a musician who goes by the name Futwax, and his 4-year-old son, Julian Austin, perform his latest ballad, “Have you sanitized?” After learning about the havoc COVID-19 has caused in Europe, Futwax, who also lives in Nairobi’s Kibera settlement, thought his music could help people. “It’s my duty to make sure that everyone knows what’s happening and are doing what they can to try and stay safe. We have to be our own solution,” he says.

Jerry Lovett releases a dove after the funeral service for his brother, Chester Lovett, who died of COVID-19 complications at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit. Father to 10 children, Chester Lovett’s family members had to rotate in and out during the service held at Wilson-Akins Funeral Home.

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Eric Bouvet and Yan Morvan are photographers and journalists. Their involvement in documenting political, social, and economic events since the ’80s, their knowledge of difficult terrain, and their notoriety as photographic authors make them important key witnesses of our history. The HEXAGON exhibition was originally scheduled as part of the 2020 edition of the Rencontres d’Arles festival that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Les photographes Eric Bouvet et Yan Morvan exposent plus de 80 portraits de Françaises et de Français
issus de leur campagne photographique menée pendant 2 ans sur le territoire, à Paris Gare de Lyon et
à Avignon-TGV du 25 juin au 1er septembre.

Eric Bouvet et Yan Morvan sont photographes et journalistes. Leur implication dans la documentation
des faits politiques, économiques et sociaux depuis les années 80, leur expérience des terrains difficiles,
leur notoriété en tant qu’auteurs photographes font deux des témoins privilégiés de notre histoire. L’exposition HEXAGONE devait se tenir dans le cadre de l’édition 2020 des Rencontres d’Arles, annulée en raison de la pandémie. 

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In Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in the South Caucasus, the local authorities encourage the growth of the ethnic Armenian population. This project shows large families in Nagorno-Karabakh, reflecting on their lives in an area of great uncertainty, but also of great beauty, both natural and human.

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From the issue’s introduction: 

Upon publication in 1997, Delta. The Perils, Profits and Politics of Water in South and Southeast Asia was reviewed as “A visual ‘j’accuse'” by the Financial Times.

After having covered the war in Afghanistan for twenty years, and in the context of his seminal work on Central Asia and the adjoining regions (Travelling through the Eye of History, 2009) Schwartz embarked on a journey leading from the relics of Holocene glaciation in Switzerland into the milieu of the Anthropocene, to collapsing glaciers on three continents.

While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey (2017) is both a photographic inquiry and awareness project.

Glaciers are portrayed as a gauge of anthropogenic global warming and fast disappearing archive of climatic and cultural history, as glacio-archaeological find spot and place of remembrance and metaphor of memory. The outcome, a “glaciology in pictures,” as it were, is the result of a synthesis of scientific observation and artistic action. The environmental context makes this work a counterpart and continuation of the earlier book Delta, which is an example of the author’s photojournalistic approach.

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The masterclass is named after Joop Swart, a passionate supporter of photographic talent who played a major role in the foundation’s history, first as the photo contest jury chair from 1966 to 1974, and then as a member of the foundation’s board from 1970 until his death in 1994. The participants are selected by an independent selection committee, based on a nomination process. Find out more about the selection process and see the panel of international nominators, and follow Mary on Instagram here. 

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Domestic violence and physical abuse at home are global issues. But nowhere are they more prevalent than in societies whose foundational values are still patriarchal. In these societies, women have no escape but submission, and those who can’t submit have very few alternatives. “Broken Princess” by Valentina Sinis is the story of women in Iraqi Kurdistan who tried to escape the violence by setting themselves on fire. Those who survive are left with terrible physical scars and possibly harder psychological ones: they regret their choice but have a very limited social structure to lean on for recovery. With little support or visibility, they find themselves in a place that is worse, if possible, than before. The project will be a complete body of work, made using photography, video, and text. A balanced approach of narrative – daily shots, dreams, suffering, and memories will be paired with factual evidence providing the wider context Valentina is looking for. The actual end result she aspires for is that this body of work acts as a catalyst to provide better opportunities for women to live in better conditions.

“Blurred in Despair” by Fabiola Ferrero aims to portray a collective mental state. Venezuela’s crisis involves a lot more than numbers and money. The increasing hostility of daily life has created debilitating psychological trauma for citizens, and people have begun to feel lost in their quest for survival. According to the “Emotional Map”, a study conducted by Venezuelan psychologist Yorelis Acosta, it appears that the country is collectively in a state of depression due to relentless exposure to hostile situations. When survival becomes a priority, happiness becomes a blurred concept. “Blurred in Despair” is a vehicle to educate my fellow countrymen about depression through public presentations in partnership with Yoreslis Acosta to help prevent fatal consequences.

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This story is part of a group project by the Ruda Colectiva and was supported by a grant from the National Geographic Society’s Emergency Fund for Journalists.

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