Bayeux Prize 2021: "Burma is one of the worst places in the world to be a journalist"

On March 14, 2021, people carry a man with a gunshot wound.

A photo of the 2021 Visa d'or News award winner on Burma's Spring Revolution.

© Winner of the Visa d'or News

Text by: Pierre Fesnien Follow

6 mins

While the Bayeux 2021 War Correspondents Prize has just rewarded the work of a Burmese photojournalist, the

exhibition

is being held in Bayeux to bear witness to the pro-democracy protests suppressed by the junta.

Interview with the curator of the exhibition Damir Sagolj.

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From our special correspondent in Bayeux,

For the first time in its history, the Bayeux Prize was awarded on October 9 to an anonymous reporter in the photo category.

He is a Burmese photographer whose work is exhibited in the Chapel of the Bayeux Tapestry among the images of other photo reporters in the

exhibition

visible until October 31.

The curator of the exhibition, Bosnian and himself a photojournalist,

, explained to us the peculiarities of this exhibition and the situation regarding press freedom in Burma.

Extract from the winning report of the #Photo Trophy, price @NikonFR #Birmanie # PBCN2021 #Myanmar pic.twitter.com/KYCwooOUe1

- Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandie (@PrixBayeux) October 9, 2021

RFI: Could you tell us about this exhibition and its particularities?

Damir Sagolj:

This exhibition is a collective effort by several photojournalists to show

that took place this year in Burma.

It also shows the violent and bloody repression of the pro-democracy movement that followed this coup with massive demonstrations that led to clashes with the security forces and the Burmese army.

►Also read: The Bayeux Prize rewards an anonymous photojournalist for the first time

These photographs were taken by 13 Burmese photojournalists whose anonymity is preserved for this exhibition for obvious security reasons, as they are all still in Burma and exposing them in the media would put them in danger.

As curator of the exhibition, I compiled what I think are the best photos to gain a comprehensive understanding of what happened during and after the coup.

How did you go about recovering and selecting these photos?

I know Burma well, having had many professional experiences there for several years.

I have been to the country many times to cover a lot of events and I know a lot of photographers there.

I would never have taken the liberty of putting on an exhibition about a situation that I am unfamiliar with.

This is not the first time that a coup of this sort has occurred in Burma, so there is a kind of repeating pattern, so it was not particularly complicated to come into contact with the many people I know locally.

The “Myanmar Spring 2021” exhibition is on view until October 31, 2021 in La Chapelle adjoining the Bayeux Tapestry.

© Pierre Fesnien / RFI

I have been working on this new coup d'état in Burma since it broke out in February 2021 so through the thousands of photos I was able to receive, I have selected fifty which, I believe, best represent the events. .

Under what conditions are journalists currently working in Burma?

I don't think there is a single country in the world that is more aware of what freedom of the press means.

For a short time, Burmese journalists enjoyed some freedom of the press.

Not to the same extent as we know in western countries, but it did exist from 2013 and

which led to what they called " 

 ".

So the Burmese know what freedom of the press means.

I think right now it's one of the worst places in the world to be a journalist.

The danger there is permanent for journalists and the fact that foreigners do not have access to the country reinforces this danger.

It all depends on the local journalists.

So I believe their journalistic work is probably one of the most important in the world right now.

Concretely, what risk the Burmese journalists?

They risk everything!

They risk their lives !

But not only.

The Burma junta is known to punish journalists not only by putting them in prison for many years, but it also attacks their friends and families.

How did these photojournalists manage to take these photos?

Did they have to hide?

Use hidden cameras?

All the photos in the exhibition were taken with professional cameras, but if you look closely you will see in several of them that photographers are hiding to take pictures of demonstrators arrested by police or images of police officers. armed.

The risks these journalists have taken are, I believe, well beyond what 99% of us have experienced in our various reports.

Does it change the way of taking pictures?

In most countries a photojournalist enjoys relative protection, while in Burma they are targets for the authorities.

In France or in other countries, being a journalist normally gives you some sort of additional protection.

In Burma, journalists are particularly targeted and arrested, so obviously it's even more dangerous.

Do you think those 50 photos you are exhibiting are really worth the risks these photojournalists took?

It is not something I would allow myself to judge.

But if you read the statements of these reporters which are exhibited alongside their photos, you will understand that they believed these risks were worth taking.

The reason they took these photos goes far beyond just saying "

 ".

I believe most of them do it for much deeper reasons.

Do you think an image can make a difference?

Drop a diet?

One image only, I don't think so.

This can trigger reactions from the international community of course.

But I think these photos are a bit like rays of light gradually attacking cancer.

If you show a truth by constantly showing pictures of it, it ends up showing the reality of what's going on and after a while that can lead to real change.

►Also read: Prix Bayeux 2021: Manoocher Deghati, 40 years of career as close as possible to war

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