Carmignac Photojournalism Award – 11th edition
Democratic Republic of Congo
presents
Congo in Conversation
A collaborative reportage produced by Award laureate Finbarr O’Reilly
Featuring work by
Arlette Bashizi | Justin Makangara | Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro | Baron Nkoy | Moses Sawasawa | Ley Uwera | Bernadette Vivuya | Steve Wembi
The 11th Carmignac Photojournalism Award on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—was granted to Canadian-British photographer Finbarr O’Reilly.
Every year, the Carmignac Photojournalism Award supports the production of a 6-month photo-reportage by the laureate, which is then published in a monograph and presented in a traveling exhibition. Finbarr O’Reilly started his reportage in January but as borders closures prevent him from traveling to DRC, he and the Award team re-conceived their approach to adapt the reportage to the ongoing crisis. This led to the conception of ‘Congo In Conversation’, a collaborative digital reportage produced in close cooperation with Congolese journalists and photographers.
Transmitted via a dedicated website and the Carmignac Award’s social networks, “Congo in Conversation” provides a pioneering, regularly updated, stream of articles, photo reportages and videos documenting the human, social, and ecological challenges faced in the Congo today, in the context of an unprecedented health crisis.
The website congoinconversation.fondationcarmignac.com will be launched today at 6pm French time with an announcement live on the Visa pour l’image Instagram account.
Red Cross burial and mourners attend the burial of an 11-month old girl who died in the town of Rutshuru in North Kivu province during the Ebola outbreak, February 2020. © Finbarr O’Reilly for Fondation Carmignac
CONGO IN CONVERSATION
The 11th Carmignac Photojournalism Award project will explore — with cautious optimism — the future of the Democratic Republic of Congo, documenting the harsh realities that have impeded progress in this long-exploited country. Within the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the project is turning its attention to how the Congolese are coping with the worst global health crisis in a century — in addition to managing the second-deadliest Ebola epidemic in history and the world’s deadliest measles outbreak.
Through its network of contributors working in compliance with professional journalistic ethics and standards, the Carmignac Award’s Congo project will document human rights and environmental issues, providing in-depth reportages, snapshots of daily life and struggles in this huge country, as it faces an unprecedented health crisis.
Vendors and shoppers at Kituku market on the shores of Lake Kivu in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, April 2, 2020. Many Congolese survive on their daily earnings and cannot afford to follow health advisories on maintaining social distance. © Moses Sawasawa for Fondation Carmignac
CONTRIBUTORS
Arlette Bashizi is a freelance photographer based in Goma covering music, culture and daily life. She is a member of the @collectifgomaoeil and the Congo Women’s Photographers Network.
Justin Makangara is an independent photojournalist and blogger based in Kinshasa. His work focuses on underreported stories surrounding social justice, politics, music, and daily life. He is a member of APJD African Photojournalist Database, and a VII academy scholarship holder.
Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro is a freelance journalist and cameraman based in Beni covering conflict, the Ebola epidemic, and local news. He works as the Eastern Congo correspondent for the Associated Press.
Baron Nkoy is a Kinshasa-based journalist, documentary filmmaker. His work explores poverty in local communities and efforts to bring about positive change. He is a member of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and the National Press Union of Congo.
Moses Sawasawa is a freelance photographer based in Goma, covering humanitarian issues, culture, health, and daily life. He is the cofounder of @collectifgomaoeil, which promotes positive images of Congo.
Ley Uwera is an independent Goma-based photojournalist and a reporter with BBC in the Democratique Republic of Congo. She has a degree in journalism from the Université de Cepromad. She reports on conflict and documents the social and cultural evolution of the eastern part of the continent, with a focus on Congo. Ley is a contributor to Everyday Africa and a member of the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Bernadette Vivuya is a journalist and filmmaker based in Goma in Eastern DRC. She reports on issues related to human rights, the environment and the exploitation of raw materials, bearing witness to the resilience of the people in this conflict-affected region.
Steve Wembi is a Kinshasa-based investigative reporter who has worked as a contributor for The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Xinhua. He has a diploma in criminology from the Kenya Institute of Studies in Criminal Justice.
Vendors at a street market in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, April 25, 2020. Many Congolese survive on their daily earnings and cannot afford to follow health advisories on maintaining social distance. © Ley Uwera for Fondation Carmignac
Left: A member of the COVID-19 response wears protective equipment at the entrance to a building in the Gombe commune of DR Congo’s Capital, Kinshasa, in mid-March, 2020. The responders were at the main entrance of the building to raise awareness among apartment residents about social distancing and to take the temperature of anyone entering or leaving the building, where there are around 75 families and offices.
Right: It is Sunday, April 05 at 9:05 pm. Gombe is preparing for its 14-day lockdown. The grocery stores and shops are already closed and this part of the busy city is empty of its regulars. Gombe is the administrative centre of Kinshasa, considered the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting DR Congo. To date, records show that Gombe has more than 70 percent of cases in the national territory. Currently there are approximately 377 infected people in DR Congo. © Justin Makangara for Fondation Carmignac
Finbarr O’Reilly biography
Finbarr O’Reilly is an independent photographer and multimedia journalist, and the author of the nonfiction memoir, Shooting Ghosts, A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War (Penguin Random House 2017). He is the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize exhibition photographer and a frequent contributor to The New York Times. His photography and multimedia work has earned numerous industry honors, including the 2019 World Press Photo Awards in the Portraits category, and World Press Photo of the Year in 2006. Finbarr lived for twelve years in West and Central Africa and has spent two decades covering conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan, Afghanistan, Libya, and Gaza. In 2019, he spent months reporting from inside the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history.
