“Beware the Ides of March” Julius Caesar Photographs and text y Jérôme Sessini In 2014 until 2017, I worked in the Russian-speaking regions of Donbass, in Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol… Russia was cle…
In 2014 until 2017, I worked in the Russian-speaking regions of Donbass, in Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol… Russia was clearly supporting the pro-Russian separatists, and the Russian media was showering Russian-speaking civilians with propaganda against the Ukrainian government and against the Western media, but still, the russian-speaking civilians were paying with their lives. I photographed civilians victims of Ukrainian army artillery. I was guided by this feeling of revolt and injustice that I know too well, each time common people are killed, injured, torn apart, by wars that are beyond them…
I visited Kharkiv less than a month before Russian missiles started striking it. Most of the people I met there—and all of the men whom I met there—told me that they, and the city, were ready for war. They thought they knew what war was. A Russian-orchestrated attempt to take over the city had failed in 2014, but, just to the east of Kharkiv, an occupation regime was established, and a shooting war went on for eight years. A giant blue-and-yellow tent in Freedom Square, with a banner that said “Everything for victory,” stood as a stubborn reminder that the war wasn’t over. Then Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Within a few weeks, Kharkiv was unrecognizable.
From iconic images of major world events, to intimate moments of pleasure and delight — here is an outstanding selection of remarkable images from Magnum Photos — each with a personal story
From iconic images of major world events, to intimate moments of pleasure and delight — here is an outstanding selection of remarkable images from Magnum Photos — each with a personal story.
This year’s winners are: Stefano De Luigi of Italy for “TIA – This is Africa”; Miquel Dewever-Plana of France for “The Other War”; Edwin Koo of Singapore for “Paradise Lost: Pakistan’s Swat Valley”; Darcy Padilla of San Francisco, for “The Julie Project”; and Jerome Sessini of France, for “So Far from God, Too Close to America.”
In 2008 the photographer Jérôme Sessini started the Mexican project: a dive into the drug cartels war in Mexico. This compelling reportage, lasting two years, is a valuable document about the most dangerous cities in the country: Culiacan, Tijuana and especially Ciudad Juarez
In June 2017 Jérôme Sessini spent several weeks road-tripping through Middle America, photographing the sagging buildings and crumbling cities along the highway. From the southern ghost towns to the shuttered homes throughout the rustbelt, his photographs testify to the perilous economic realities found in many parts of the country.
Jerome Sessini documented the Kurdish Peshmerga offensive against Islamic State (IS) in the city of Bashiq over the last month. Then crossed the region to cover Iraqi forces pushing towards Mosul, the jewel in the crown of towns captured and controlled by IS since 2014. Resistance has been fierce with IS proving an experienced and determined enemy with no fear of death or martyrdom
During the four days the following membership motions were executed:
• Bieke Depoorter was made a Magnum Member
• Jérôme Sessini was made a Magnum Member
• Diana Markosian was made a Magnum Nominee
• Matt Stuart was made a Magnum Nominee
“I’m interested in people who have fallen victim to superior forces, people caught up in torment that exceeds them, people who are the greatest losers of history,” says the photographer. “Their only crime was being born in the wrong place. It’s made me ponder the question: Should we just say ‘You were born in a poor and crappy country and your life is doomed to failure,’ or is there a way out? I try to keep hope alive.”
Jerome Sessini, a French photographer with the agency Magnum Photos, was one of the first people to arrive at the scene. A veteran war photographer who has worked in conflict sites like Iraq and Somalia, Sessini says he wasn’t prepared for the weight of what he saw.
Paris-based Magnum photographer Jerome Sessini arrived at the town hall at around 3:30 p.m. Sessini has covered the unrest in Ukraine for months, from the protests and clashes in Kiev’s Independence Square to the March referendum in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which led to the quick annexation by Russia.
French photojournalist Jerome Sessini, of the Magnum photo agency, spent the past month documenting the strife. Over the past week, he shadowed vigilantes from Paracuaro to Antúnez to Nueva Italia as they barreled into municipalities, detained anyone associated with the cartels and secured the towns.
From 2008 to 2011, the photojournalist Jerome Sessini submerged himself in some of the most violent Mexican cities—Culiacán, Tijuana, and Ciudad Juárez—and documented their increasing social decomposition
The recipient of this year Award is Jérôme Sessini (Magnum Photos) for the work So far from God, too close to America. The book “The wrong side”, just published by Contrasto, is the result of his project started in 2008: a dive into the drug cartels war in Mexico
