It was the fairy tale of the year. Two friends Michel Decron and Jean-François Leroy, under the leadership of Roger Therond, the mythical boss of Match and Photo and at the request of the municipality of Perpignan launched a festival dedicated to Photojournalism.
It was an almost immediate success. The following year, the nec plus ultra of the profession, photographers, agencies, picture editors from all over the world came together with passion and astonishment.
Jean Francois Leroy showed us all that was most impressive, resuscitated and rediscovered some names forgotten and unknown to the profession, Arles was dying out little by little, Perpignan was the place to be. A leftist tone was sometimes unbearable or even caricatural but was let through: the festival was sumptuous, amazing and true.
It still is today but the world has changed. 30 years to show the reverse of a mirror that now nobody wants to watch.
Bravo Jean-François for this tenacity.
It’s always true: the desperate songs are always the most beautiful!
What follows in this day are some revealing features that we have devoted to the Festival during the last 7 years of the Eye of Photography!
