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Photojournalists have until 1 July 2009 to apply for the second annual Pierre and Alexandra Boulat Association Award that was launched last year to promote the work of Pierre and Alexandra Boulat and encourage the work of photojournalists.

Supported by a Canon endowment of €8,000 the award will be presented to a professional photographer of any age, sex or nationality who wishes to cover a social, economic, political or cultural issue in a journalistic manner. The endowment will be given to allow the winner to produce a story that has never been told and that the photographer, “cannot find support for within the media."

The Pierre and Alexandra Boulat Association was formed in 2007 in memory of the late Life magazine photojournalist Pierre Boulat and his daughter, VII photographer Alexandra Boulat who died, aged just 45, in October 2007. The inaugural award was won by South Korean photographer Jean Chung for her project photographing the rape of women in Eastern Congo.

All of the applicants for the Boulat Association Award must agree not to present the same project for any other award until the Visa Pour l’Image 2010 festival of photojournalism when his or her work financed by the award will be exhibited or presented during an evening show.

© Jean Chung/Association Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award/Canon France

One of the images from Jean Chung’s ongoing project documenting the lives of women who have been raped in Eastern Congo.

In August 2009 members of the Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Association will pre-select and study the entry dossiers and a special jury - comprising various major names from the world of photojournalism – will make the final decision during the Visa pour l’Image festival in September 2009. Representatives of the Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Association and Canon will present the selected photojournalist with the award during Visa pour l’Image 2009 event.

The winner of the €8,000 grant will receive it in two parts: the first one at Visa Pour l’Image in Perpignan in September 2009, and the second one after showing the first part of his/her work to Visa, the Association and Canon six months later. The photo reportage must be completed by 15 April 2010 to enable the work to be available for exhibition during the Visa pour l’Image festival in September 2010.

The jury’s decision is final, but the jury can opt to take the decision not to give the Award if it considers that none of the applications are worthy of it. To qualify applicants must have completed at least one photo-reportage (published or unpublished), must be professional photojournalists, and must be able to write and speak in French or English.

Application dossiers must be postmarked no later than 1 July 2009 and must be sent by post to: Association Pierre & Alexandra Boulat, c/o COSMOS, 56 Blvd Latour Maubourg, 75007 Paris, France. Please note that receipt of entries will not be acknowledged.

Application dossiers for the award can be downloaded from the VII Photo website.