Fondation Carmignac in France offers the Carmignac Photojournalism Award, dedicated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and to the human, social and ecological challenges it faces today in 2019.
Four times the size of France, this continent-sized country irrigated by the Congo River benefits from immense natural and mineral resources; the world’s largest rainforest after the Amazon; the world’s largest producer of cobalt and coltan (metals which have strategic importance for our electronic equipment), the second-largest producer of diamonds… But DR Congo, ripped apart by recurrent inter-community and political conflicts, also accumulates misery, epidemics and clashes.
DR Congo is one of the lowest countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) ranking. Its literacy level is rising, but public health is in a state of abandonment, and violence towards women and children is endemic. Despite having the largest freshwater resource in Africa, it has the lowest level of access to drinkable water. It has one of the worst records in terms of transport infrastructure. It also tops the charts globally in terms of deforestation and the monopolisation of land and raw materials.
The Carmignac Photojournalism Award aims to support a journalistic and photographic project which will document these complex realities, but also address the grounds for hope for the 90 million inhabitants of the DRC, of which 60% are younger than 20 years old: education and public health initiatives; conservation initiatives for wildlife; and the fight against trafficking, corruption and the control of a few individuals and multinationals over mining exploitation.
Worth of Award
Selected by an international jury, the laureate will receive a €50,000 grant to carry out a 6-month field report with the support of the Fondation Carmignac, which produces, upon their return, a travelling exhibition and the publication of a monograph.
Eligibility
- Photographers worldwide are welcome to apply
- In 2009, while media and photojournalism faced an unprecedented crisis, Edouard Carmignac created the Carmignac Photojournalism Award to support photographers in the field.
- Directed by Emeric Glayse, it funds annually the production of an investigative photo reportage on human rights violations, geostrategic issues in the world.
- The designation of the laureate is carried out in two stages:
- The Pre-jury composed of photography, press and art world experts, has for mission to choose between 12 and 15 files among those received.
- The Jury composed of personalities specialized in the theme and contemporary image, aims to select a winning project.
- After the selection, the jury will meet the winning photographer in order to speak to them and to provide, if necessary, the support they will require throughout their project – from the preparation stage of the report, to its final exhibition.
How to Apply
Please submit your entry for the award by following the competition online.
Deadline: The application platform will close on October 16, 2019 at 23h59pm (GMT). Any submission that is not confirmed at that time will not be reviewed.