25 Years of the International Photojournalism Festival Visa Pour l’Image: a Tribute to Jean-François Leroy

2010 Visa d'or Feature: Stephanie Sinclair. After helping bring in the hay harvest, Amber Barlow, 16, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, FLDS, soars on a homemade swing with friends at the 4,000-acre FLDS ranch, in Pony Springs, near Pioche, Nev. on Aug. 14, 2009. Known for their practice of polygamy, the FLDS is the largest practitioner of plural marriage in the U.S. The FLDS church emerged in the early 1900s when its founding members left mainstream Mormon church, largely due to the issue of plural marriage. They gained international notoriety with the arrest of their leader Warren S. Jeffs, who in May 2006 was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. In April 2008, Texas Rangers raided their ranch in Eldorado, Texas after receiving over what was later determined to be a hoax call, although authorities eventually removed 440 children from the ranch, which they said had been sexually, physically and emotionally abused. The children are now back at home and the community continues to survive amidst what they consider a battle to over faith and the authorities' desire to end their unconventional way of living. “Jean-François selected my project Polygamy in America to be exhibited at Visa Pour L'Image in 2010. It was my first exhibition at the festival and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to show the world a unique and little-known side of America. The ever-enthusiastic Jean-François and his judges graced the project by granting me my second Visa d'or. It was a thrill and an honor to be a part of it all, among this big family of photojournalists, editors and publishers who flock to Perpignan each year. As anyone in this profession can attest, this job can be a very solitary experience. We’re rarely in the field at the same place and time and have little direct interaction with readers. So, I think for many photographers, the festival, with its awards, slide shows, exhibitions and parties, is not just a rare opportunity to spend time with each other, but also a chance to see how people interact with the photographs we are making – an important aspect of photojournalism, which can be forgotten at times”. (Photo by Stephanie Sinclair/VII)
25 Years of the International Photojournalism Festival Visa Pour l’Image: a Tribute to Jean-François Leroy
   
  Military Woman Gallery

Must See Places

Google Ads Privacy