An American in Perpignan.

Monday, 3 September 2007

John McDermott Dispatch from Perpignan Day One.

Although I’ve been a working photographer for 30 years I have never until this year attended Visa Pour l’Image in Perpignan, an event which has become an obligatory pilgrimage for serious photojournalists the world over. For years I have read and heard from friends about what an inspiring experience the festival has been for them and now I’m finding out firsthand just how right they were. And it didn’t take very long. I had heard so much, for example, about the legendary founder and moving force behind the event, Jean-Francois Leroy. I admit that I was just a little hesitant about meeting this mercurial character after all I had heard about him. In reality, he is one of the more positive, engaging and welcoming people I’ve ever encountered in photography. His enthusiasm and energy are contagious. He clearly loves photojournalism and its practitioners as few others do, and has committed his life to it. To meet and talk with him was, indeed, inspiring.

It turns out inspiration lurks around every corner of this old French Catalan city during these few days in September, not only in the form of all the photographers, agents and editors present, but also in the light, the neighbourhoods and the inhabitants themselves. In the short span of a day-and-a-half I’ve met a couple of genuine legends — Jean-Francois Leroy and David Douglas Duncan — and three amazing photographers whose work is on display this year — Lizzie Sadin, Agnès Dherbeys and Akintunde Akinleye. Of these three, I found Nigerian photojournalist Akinleye, winner of a World Press Photo Spot News prize who now shoots for Reuters, to be particularly inspiring. He is clearly a dedicated guy, a very serious professional who works in challenging circumstances, and he is someone we will surely hear a lot more from in the future. He comes across as a humble guy who, and while confident, is also a little bit amazed by his recent success. He wants to do a lot more and has come to Perpignan to learn and to meet others whose work he has only admired from a distance but who now consider him their peer.

The people of Perpignan are clearly aware that Visa is their moment in the spotlight and they are doing their best to welcome this special crowd of international visitors. They are also extraordinarily tolerant of all the cameras pointed in their direction. The Café de la Poste, near the Palais des Congrès, is the unofficial meeting point of the event and the waiters — most of whom look like former players for the Catalans Dragons, the top local rugby club — are all very friendly. No wonder, as they’ll probably make more money this week than any of the photographers! I'm sure I'll be visiting the café regularly during the week.

My responsibilies here are varied and I will be interviewing the American photojournalist Dirck Halstead for one of the videos that CPN is doing with a number of the exhibiting photographers and other leading figures. I’m really looking forward to it. Halstead started out working for UPI in Vietnam and ended up with 47 Time Magazine covers while working as one of their contract photographers for 29 years. This year he’s been invited to the festival to present a retrospective of his work so it should be something very special. More tomorrow!

John McDermott Dispatch from Perpignan Day One.