Getty Images photographers Jerome Sessini and Alvaro Ybarra Zavala have been nominated for the prestigious Visa d’Or awards. Sessini is one of five finalists in the news category, for his work on Libya, while Zavala has been nominated for his work on the conflict in Colombia. Furthermore, Getty Images will be announcing the winners of its 2011 Grants for Editorial Photography at the Visa Pour L’Image festival, which aims to showcase and support powerful and inspiring photojournalism projects. The winners will be announced on stage during the evening screening on Thursday 1 September, with the winning recipients showcasing their chosen projects on Friday, 2 September from 3 - 4pm.

Press Release

Getty Images has strong presence at Visa Pour L’Image 2011

London - 18 July, 2011:  Getty Images will once again have a significant presence at Visa Pour L’Image, the international photojournalism festival held annually in Perpignan, France. This year, Jerome Sessini and Alvaro Ybarra Zavala have been nominated for the prestigious Visa d’Or awards, in the news and feature categories, which will be announced on 1 and 2 September, 2011 respectively. One of three finalists in the features category, Alvaro Ybarra Zavala has been nominated for his work on the conflict in Colombia, while Jerome Sessini is one of five finalists in the news category, for his work on Libya.

Furthermore, Getty Images will be announcing the winners of its 2011 Grants for Editorial Photography at the festival, which aims to showcase and support powerful and inspiring photojournalism projects. The winners will be announced on stage during the evening screening on Thursday 1 September, with the winning recipients showcasing their chosen projects on Friday, 2 September from 3 - 4pm. Since the grants inception in 2005, Getty Images has awarded over $600,000 to professional photojournalists. Further information on the Getty Images’ grants programme can be found online at: www.gettyimages.com/grants

Reportage by Getty Images photojournalists’ Shaul Schwarz and Alvaro Ybarra Zavala have also been chosen by the festival to exhibit their work. Additionally, Getty Images’ photojournalist Ed Ou shall be exhibiting his work, after having received the prestigious Young Reporter of Perpignan award.

The moving and inspiring exhibitions will focus on the following:

Columbia, in Eternal Sorrow
Alvaro Ybarra Zavala / Reportage by Getty Images
After more than 40 years of civil war, Colombia is a divided country. Decades of violence have put an end to far too many lives in this extraordinary country. The sequence of events in the war is now dictated by strategic and economic interests, far removed from the ideological values that led to the conflict. Today’s talk of left-wing or right-wing armed groups is misleading. Drug trafficking, palm oil, water and now the market for offsetting CO? emissions are all factors driving the conflict. The systematic violation of human rights has become part of the general way of life. The number of internally displaced persons is the highest in the world – more than three million. But officially, there is no war in Colombia.

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Narco Cultura
Shaul Schwarz / Reportage by Getty Images
“Let’s face it – the heroes these days are not the lawyers or the politicians. The heroes are the guys flashing the money,” says Narco music promoter Joel Vasquez outside a Narco-Corrido club in Los Angeles. “The market is bigger than ever. I think we can be the next hip hop.”

While death statistics have been documented ad nauseam, far less has been said about the broader social reality created by the drug trade and affecting the lives of millions of Latin-Americans. For many there, Narco traffickers provide the only models of fame and success. Greed, drugs and violence have now created a new culture – a Narco Culture.

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·      Child Soldiers of Somalia
Ed Ou/ Reportage by Getty Images
Ed Ou will receive the Young Reporter of Perpignan award for his work showcasing the child soldiers of Somalia.

Child soldiers are deployed across the globe, but according to the United Nations, the Somali government is among the “most persistent violators” of sending children into war, finding itself on a list with notorious rebel groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army. All across this lawless land, smooth, hairless faces peek out from behind enormous guns. In blown-out buildings, children chamber bullets twice the size of their fingers. In neighbourhoods by the sea, they run checkpoints and face down four-by-four trucks, though they can barely see over the hood.

Click here to view the collection.

Adrian Murrell, Senior Vice President, Global Editorial, Getty Images says: “I am extremely proud that, once again, our photojournalists are being recognised at Visa Pour L’Image, through both their nominations for the Visa d’Or, as well as being given the opportunity to showcase their work. We are delighted that their projects are being highlighted at the Visa Pour L’Image festival, which we are sponsoring for a fourth year, as we continue giving support to the photojournalism community.”

In addition to these exhibitions, Getty Images will also have a strong presence at the festival, with several screenings of their photographers’ work, as well as conducting daily portfolio review sessions at their stand.

Visa Pour L’Image will also be hosting a memorial to Getty Images’ photojournalist Chris Hondros, as well as Tim Hetherington, who were tragically killed in April 2011, whilst covering the events in Libya.

Adrian Murrell continues: “It has been a difficult year for the industry, with the loss of two if its most experienced and respected photojournalists, Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington. We will all be remembering and paying tribute to them this year.”

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Photo: Alvaro Ybarra Zavala / Reportage by Getty Images

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