It’s hard to believe that it’s already ten years since Camille Lepage was killed. Through this commemoration, we remember her exceptional talent and dedication as a photojournalist, particularly in conflict zones such as the Central African Republic. In 2014, Camille Lepage was awarded the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation’s first Award of Excellence, a well-deserved recognition of her work. Tragically, however, she did not have the opportunity to receive it in person. A ceremony was organized during the exhibition at Galerie Huit, where Maryvonne Lepage, Manuel Rivera-Ortiz and the mayor of Arles were present to pay tribute to Camille Lepage. Today, as the world continues to face complex realities, we honor Camille Lepage’s commitment, courage and determination.
About Camille Lepage
Camille Lepage matured in the shadow of the Château d’Angers, in the warmth of the city walls. But as she entered her adult life, it is a mountain that she had chosen to confront: the silence in which the populations of countries at war struggle, too far from ordinary mortals to move the editorial staff. This 26-year-old journalist had too much empathy to accept this media impasse. She chose to cast off and open her eyes wherever her pen and her lens could serve as an offering to forgotten victims. “Putting yourself in people’s shoes, sympathizing with their misfortune but also their happiness, that was Camille’s strength as a photojournalist. She liked to blend in with the crowd, to make contact, despite the language barrier,” says Virginie Nguyen Hoang, who did her internship in the same Egyptian newspaper. Diploma in hand, it was in South Sudan that Camille Lepage put down her backpack in July 2012. In the latest country that she described as “damned”, she defied the ban on approaching the occupiers of the Nouba Mountains to tell their fate, that of innocent people who die of hunger under the bombings.
Anthony Pasco
partners Association Camille Lepage – On est ensemble, Innova Art
L’Engagement
from July 1 to September 29, 2024
Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation
18 rue de la Calade
13200 Arles
