Tomorrow, we head down deep into southern France, the Languedoc-Roussillon region, for our first foray into what is the 26th year of ‘Visa pour l’image’ – ‘…the premier International Festival of Photojournalism held in Perpignan, France. This festival is a unique event where you can join thousands of kindred spirits who share a love and passion for photography. View the greatest photojournalist work from around the world in exhibitions across the city… . ‘ Nous sommes trés excité!
We have our new calling cards, printed and ready to hand out…
Jason Florio’s images – taken over a 15 year period – as part of a slideshow he was invited to present about his work at Athens Photo Festival, Greece, 2013 (APhf:15).
Earlier this year, we traveled a short distance across the border, south of The Gambia (where we have been based for the last 8-9 months), into the Casamance region of Senegal – on assignment for a local NGO, Concern Universal, who we have worked with on previous projects. The purpose of this assignment was to document a celebratory forest festival in the village of Koudioubé – a juddering, hold-onto-anything-fixed-down and mind-your-head-whilst-you’re-at-it, 20 minute drive on a deeply rutted ‘road’ (which, we were told by the driver, is often impassible during a heavy rainy season) through the bush, from the small town of Diouloulou.
What the villagers have achieved – in a region where, for 30 years, communities have been broken apart by civil war, and forests have been decimated – is truly uplifting…
‘Local orginazation, ASIPID, a partner of Concern Universal, came up with the idea to the peace and save the remaining forests… .
The Koudioubé Community Forest – managed by four communities, was the first to be protected. It’s regeneration has been a source of celebration for the community. Then this grew to 8 more communities, who have set up community forests. Now many more want to follow...’ (read more on the video) – CU, The Gambia & Senegal.
To find out more about traditional masquerades (as pictured above) in West Africa, you may like to read about our new multimedia project, on this very subject – which we will continue to work on when we return to West Africa – here.
In November, 2013, before we headed down to The Gambia, West Africa, to present our first ‘Photos Tell Stories‘ photography workshops, Jason was invited to exhibit his award winning portraits of village chiefs, ‘Silafando‘ – taken whilst on our ‘Short Walk in the Gambian Bush –930km African odyssey‘ – at the Athens Photo Festival (APhf:15), Greece, along with presenting a slideshow of his work – which spans over fifteen years.
As a photographer, his work has taken him around the world – covering a wealth of subject matter. Therefore, it was a tough edit for him. However, his time on the stage at APhf was limited – which helped somewhat, in narrowing down what he had time to show.
All of the following photographs tell a story… many of which are just as relevant in today’s world, as they were when originally shot.
PHOTOS TELL STORIES - documentary | filmmaking | photography | people | travel 