The members of the board of directors of Visa for the image have, last week, unanimously elected Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, former Culture minister Jacques Chirac (2004-2007) and former member of parliament for the Indre-et-Loire, at the head of his association. For the mayor of Perpignan, Jean-Marc Pujol, this appointment will allow his city to “take a new step in the dissemination and promotion of our prestigious festival”.
” READ ALSO – Jean-François Leroy: “photojournalism still attracts young people,”
The co-founder of the Visa pour l’image Jean-Francois Leroy welcomes this new. “In the entire history of the festival, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres is the only minister of the Culture to be come two times to Perpignan and to be income after leaving her job,” says the director about the history of this event that attracts every year, in early September, nearly 200 000 visitors. “I think he has a real commitment to the struggles that we have run for thirty years. Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres is not there to make up the numbers: he has a true vision of what may become a Visa for the image and will allow us to explore new horizons, including new international partnerships.”
” READ ALSO – The photographer John Moore wins the World Press Photo 2019
The former minister, succeeds Jean-Paul Griolet, who had announced plans to leave his job. “Someone who has supported me from the first year, remembers Jean-François Leroy, and with whom I had the pleasure of working during the twelve years in which he held the presidency of the association.”
” READ ALSO – The amazons of Zimbabwe, these warriors who track down poachers
Considered as the Mecca of photojournalism, Visa pour l’image brings together every year in Perpignan, the most headlines of the international press (New York Times, Washington Post, Le Figaro Magazine, Le Monde, Paris Match, Der Spiegel, Time Magazine, National Geographic …) around thousands of photojournalists. A magnetism which has enabled the festival to maintain its course and increase its attractiveness, despite the many blips, digital challenges and economic difficulties that afflict the newspaper industry in France and in the world.
” READ ALSO – When the photo out of the frame at the Festival of Lianzhou
Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres arrives at the moment where Visa for the image tries to find a new impetus, particularly through the development of the International Center of Photojournalism. The CIP should become a permanent extension of the festival to the condition to obtain concrete commitments from the government and the ministry of Culture, Franck Riester.
