Patrick Chauvel, 72, covers the war in Ukraine for Paris-Match. A few hours before his departure, he welcomed Blind at his home to look back on his 50 years of war photography. Half a century of history told in an album published for the 30th anniversary
At 72, Patrick Chauvel covers the war in Ukraine for Paris-Match. A few hours before his departure, he welcomed Blind at his home to look back on his 50 years of war photography. Half a century of history told in an album published for the 30th anniversary of Reporters Without Borders, entitled 100 photos for freedom of the press.
“‘You look like you’re dead.’ Those are the opening words of Les pompes de Ricardo Jésus. Pierre Schoendeoerffer utters them upon seeing a photo of Patrick wounded in Cambodia in April 1974. Patrick wrote these lines as he took his first steps on crutches after taking ‘a bullet in the left ankle, a present of the Revolutionary Guards in Tabriz’ in 1980… “
“Let’s go.” These words sum up Patrick Chauvel’s life. For him, journalism is a way of life. It’s not some a Taliban of information. Photography? The obligation to be the first in line, where it’s really happening. “I’m not a great photographer,” he says to those who will listen. “But now and then I do take great photos.”
