The 37th edition of the renowned international festival of photojournalism, “Visa pour l’Image”, held in the south of France, opens its doors on Saturday. From war zones to climate disasters, the photos on display show the reality of events shaping the world today — and the resilience of those living through them.

“We strive to show all the latest world news – and it’s not very cheerful this year,”Jean-François Leroy, the festival’s director, told French news agency AFP.

Six of this year’s exhibitions focus on the consequences of climate change.

Dutch photographer Cynthia Boll immersed herself in the daily life of Indonesians in Jakarta, punctuated by floods, while Armenian photographer Anush Babajanyan took her camera to the Aral Sea, the exploitation of which has led to the disappearance of 90 percent of its volume.

Sebastião Salgado’s 40-year journey in photographs celebrated in Deauville exhibition

California-based AFP photographer Josh Edelson illustrates “a decade in the heart of the inferno” through his images of the wildfires in the state that are arriving earlier in the season and becoming “more intense and more devastating”.

Photographers in Gaza

Human violence is the other thread linking several of the exhibitions, which delve into the heart of the crisis in Gaza.

“Every day is worse than the last,” says Leroy, referring to the fate of local journalists – more than 200 of whom, including many photographers and camera operators, have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Recognition for journalists who bear burden of showing world the Gaza war

Fatima Hassouna, a 25-year-old photographer from Gaza, was killed by an Israeli missile on 16 April. A documentary on her life and work was screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Her photos will be presented alongside those of another Palestinian photographer, Saher Alghorra, winner of the 2025 Humanitarian Visa d’Or award from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The festival also displays photographic reports from Cédric Gerbehaye in Kashmir, Paloma Laudet in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Carolyn Van Houten in Somalia, Gaëlle Girbes in Ukraine and Salwan Georges in Syria.

These photojournalists often choose to capture the plight of the victims of global conflict, as seen in the work of Deanne Fitzmaurice, who for 20 years followed the journey of Saleh, an Iraqi child seriously injured in 2003 and nicknamed “Lionheart” for his resilience.

(with AFP)

Visa pour l’Image runs from 30 August to 14 September, 2025.