Following his photojournalistic cover of the battle of Mosul, Laurent van der Stockt won the 2017 Visa d’Or, a prestigious award given every year at the end of the International Festival of Photojournalism in Perpignan. In this series, the Belgian photographer closely reports the evolution of the Iraqi army and its allies against the troops of the Islamic State (Daesh). The photographer is particularly interested in the physical and material aftermaths of war.
At the awards ceremony, the photojournalist stressed his closeness to the Iraqi army: “Never or very rarely, a journalist leaves with a small group of ‘special forces’. It is with the army advancing but never with the small group that makes penetration. […] There are very few journalists on the ground. “
Last February, Laurent van der Stockt was awarded the World Press Photo in the General News – Single category.
The Canon Photojournalist Award goes to Catalina Martin-Chico. The photographer was awarded for her coverage of births among former soldiers of the Farc. Pierre Faure received the Camille Lepage Award for his report on the growing and increasing poverty in France. Among the other prizes awarded, Angela Ponce-Romero receives the ICRC’s Humanitarian Visa.
