Farewell Jean-François Leroy, passionate director of Visa pour l’Image and defender of photojournalism

In fact Leroy’s passion for documentary photography was sometimes criticised for being uncompromising; when Visa faced censure this year, for the lack of work by women photographers, Leroy staunchly defended his position. “Over the nearly 40 years that we have been doing Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan, there has only ever been one rule: exhibiting and screening what we believed to be the best in photojournalism,” he wrote in a statement published on Instagram on 24 July. “It is a rule that I have never wanted to bend, even when the norms of the day suggested that we should ensure that there was parity in terms of gender, race, sex, etc

“However, as we approach the opening of our 38th edition, we have noticed that there has been a significant drop in the number of submissions to the festival from women; a drop that comes at a time where there has been a general decrease in production due to cuts in budgets for photography in media outlets. 

“This year, women only represent 22% of the festival program (exhibitions and screenings). We would like this figure to be higher, as has been the case in previous editions. But female photojournalists, both young and established, have often told us that they do not want to be selected or win awards based on positive discrimination. Rather, they would like to be recognized based on the strength of their talent.” 

Leroy added that Visa supports women photojournalists with initiatives such as the Canon Female Photojournalist Grant and the Françoise Demulder Photography Grants, and that the percentage of women photographers in the festival reflected the number of submissions from women. But his statement met with resistance. 

More widely, perhaps, the challenge now is how to evolve Visa pour l’Image, when editorial commissions have dwindled, and AI, fake news and authoritarian regimes have piled pressure on documentary photography. “Ruth Eichhorn [celebrated photography director of GEO Magazine] passed away on the same day as Jean-François, and it feels like the end of an era,” says Van Lohuizen. “But a photojournalism festival is now more needed than ever. Photojournalism is more needed than ever. Photojournalists are literally under fire, they need the support.

“But you know, Jean-François wouldn’t have been able to run the festival so successfully for so many years without his team, and especially Delphine [Delphine Lelu, executive director]. It must be devastating for all of them, but I hope the festival will survive, and that the philosophy behind the festival will survive.”