Police raid a bar in San Salvador, El Salvador, looking for gang members on July 14, 2018. Photograph by Kimberly dela Cruz, who is a member of the VII Mentor Program.

Dear friends,

With the worldwide rise of populism, neo-nationalism, and autocracy there is much to do to challenge the emergence of anti-democratic forces and safeguard a world where ordinary citizens are treated with dignity and respect by their governments. This challenge is especially acute for anyone involved in journalism.

As my colleague David Campbell writes on VII Insider in an essay that details the shocking global anti-democratic trend, “addressing the challenge of democratic decline ….. demands much, much more than just arms-length coverage of the issue. Only journalism has the reach to demonstrate what is at stake if authoritarians take power. We need the practice of journalism to stand for democracy and be actively engaged in the fight for democracy. Now.”

Of course, Churchill reminded us democracy is flawed, but the alternatives are worse, as anyone living in a de-facto dictatorship, or a country run by kleptocrats, religious fundamentalists, or a military junta will attest.

The VII Foundation, through VII Academy, has trained over 700 majority world students from over 80 countries, in nine languages in three years. Many of our students live and work under regimes that suppress the media and extinguish the free flow of information and other fundamental human rights. Their bravery and their existence are essential. They are the ones bearing witness to invasion, violence, corruption, the impact of climate change, and the pillage of natural resources firsthand. Their work informs all of us.

Most of our training has taken place online throughout the pandemic. With the opening of our new campus in Arles – named after our late colleague Alexandra Boulat, and funded by our board member Jennifer Stengaard Gross and her family – we are now able to invite the most accomplished of our students to study with us in person. We are launching our first intake of students in 2023 and we can’t wait to see them here.

Gary Knight
CEO
The VII Foundation

Speak Out!

What kind of peace do young Bosnians live in today? What is their experience of the past, and what is their hope for the future? Are they afraid of a new war? How do they see their role in preserving peace?

Inspired by the lessons in the “Imagine: Reflections on Peace” book, eight young individuals from all across Bosnia and Herzegovina came to the National Museum in Sarajevo and worked with Nikola Vučić to improve their communication skills for debating difficult topics.

The discussion was broadcast on N1, a major national television channel in Bosnia, on September 27 and can be viewed here. We are grateful to The Foundation for Systemic Change (FSC) for making this event possible.

Preparations for the first collection bearing Yves Saint Laurent's name, January 1962. Photograph by Pierre Boulat.

Yves Saint Laurent by the Boulats

“Yves Saint Laurent by Alexandra and Pierre Boulat” is a special exhibition opening in Sarajevo on November 4 at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Alexandra Boulat was one of the founding members of the VII Photo Agency, and our campus in Arles, France, is named in her honor. This exhibition showcases the work she and her father did covering Yves Saint Laurent over nearly four decades. Pierre Boulat produced his first story on Yves Saint Laurent for LIFE Magazine in 1962 when the designer created the first fashion collection in his own name. This cover story with 12 pages of photographs took a month to make and began a long association. This culminated in Alexandra Boulat taking over from her father and photographing Yve Saint Laurent’s presentation at the 1998 FIFA World Cup for Paris Match.

The exhibition has been made possible by the foundation leading a collaboration with the French Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the French Institute, Fondation Pierre Bergé Yves Saint Laurent, the Association Pierre et Alexandra Boulat, and the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Herbarium

The foundation has collaborated with visual artist Ismar Čirkinagić to produce new work for his ‘Herbarium’ project and exhibit it in Bosnia for the first time.

Čirkinagić, who was born in Prijedor and now lives in Copenhagen, began “Herbarium” in 2004. The project is based on a classical herbarium that classifies flora with the difference being that all the plants have been collected from the site of mass graves in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The plants are gathered, dried, and mounted behind glass along with information about the mass grave site. Čirkinagić has made 70 new pieces specifically for the exhibition in Sarajevo after traveling to Prijedor in April this year and collecting the last plants in August.

“The exhibition will open at the National Museum 30 years since the war started, a round number. Thirty years is not a little time. We are still living in the war in many ways. There are still traces of the war around us; we are still looking for bodies of people missing, discussing certain topics. There is, again, a new cycle of nationalism. We obviously didn't leave those demons from the past behind,” said Čirkinagić.

We are grateful for the support of our partners, the Danish Arts Council, Memory Module, KUMA International, the Museum of Contemporary art Ars Aevi, and The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The exhibition opens at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo on 13 November.

School students from Arles and region at VII Academy's Alexandra Boulat Campus. Photograph by Florent Demarchez / Workflow.

Visual literacy lessons in Arles

VII Academy’s Alexandra Boulat Campus in Arles recently welcomed school children for La Rentrée en Images, organized by Les Rencontres de la Photographie. Throughout September and October 11 classes – comprising nearly 300 school children aged 10 to 18 years from Arles and the region – participated in workshops and guided tours to teach them about the complexity of a journalistic image. Using Alexandra Boulat’s “Modest” – portraits and stories of women in the Middle East – students were instructed on how to better read and understand images. Philip Blenkinsop of VII Photo Agency showed his Southeast Asian reportage to emphasize, among other elements, the importance of captions.

Kiley Knowles rides her horse through the Shell River (Anishinaabe Akiing/Minnesota, USA) during a women water protectors demonstration against Line 3 – commonly referred to by activists as “The Black Snake,” July 15, 2021. Photo by Chris Trinh.

Apply for the Foundry workshop

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is coming virtually to the USA! This tuition-free workshop, hosted by VII Academy in partnership with PhotoWings, has met in over a dozen countries around the world, teaching people how to better document their own communities and interests and develop skills to help them in work and life.

Foundry alumni have won the Pulitzer Prize and their images have graced the pages of major publications including National Geographic, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. In 2021, participants gathered virtually from all over the world in Foundry’s first online workshop. We laughed, we cried, we debated — and we had a great time. In 2022, as usual, there are no tuition fees. Classes will be taught by Andrea Bruce, Vanessa Charlotte, Michael Robinson Chavez, Alan Chin, Danny Wilcox Frazier, Alison Morley, Christopher Morris, Brian Palmer, Nina Robinson, and Maggie Steber. Guests and portfolio reviewers include editors from print publications, curators, consultants, and agents.

Applications are open now. They close on November 4, 2022, at 2359 EDT. Residents of the United States with two years or more of experience as working photojournalists may apply. Applicants from underrepresented communities will be prioritized. Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis, so although applicants won’t hear if they’ve been successful until after the application deadline, early birds will get their first choice of instructor.

To apply, please complete this online form.

VII Academy mentee Farshid Tighehsaz has won the third edition of the prestigious 6 Mois Photojournalism Award 2022. Farshid is a documentary photographer based in Tabriz, Iran. Farshid's work focuses on the experience of being human and the structural, cultural, environmental, and interior aspects that determine our lives. Farshid's prize of €10,000 will enable him to continue his project "Labyrinth" on the psychological situation of young people in Iran, a story of undoubted significance given the current protests in Iran.

Trump followers rally at the Washington Monument listening to President Trump addressing them on January 6, 2021. Photograph by Christopher Morris / VII.

We published a major article on the VII Insider blog this month on "Visual Journalism in the Age of Authoritarianism – What Can and Should You Do?" Written by managing editor David Campbell, it poses a crucial challenge:

"The decline of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism are global phenomena...I want to challenge existing and emerging visual journalists to think about how best to respond to these anti-democratic developments. It is something we all have to think hard about because...everything we do as journalists, photographers, artists, and critics depends upon having the cultural space to think, create and work freely."

VII Insider’s online community continues to provide an open platform for public debate and discussion, including on the war in Ukraine. On the VII Insider blog, you will find David's article along with the latest in the series on South American photographers by Arturo Soto.

Members of the VII Insider community get access to weekly live presentations and can view the video collection, which contains more than 120 recordings of educational discussions. Don't forget to check out the upcoming events.

VII Insider is a program of The VII Foundation in partnership with PhotoWings and VII Agency.