Video: Dramatic Moment as Philip Blenkinsop Accepts Visa d'Or

It was pouring rain in Perpignan, France, tonight. Visa pour l'Image festival organizers were forced to cancel their marquee event, the final big outdoor projection. This left a disappointed crowd to wander adrift about through the rain-slicked town. And it put into question the awarding of the Visa d'Or News prize, the last major award to be announced here. The night could have gone down as a bitter memory, a moment when everything went wrong.

Then, striding purposefully through the center of town, came festival director Jean-Francois Leroy, a crowd of photographers and media in tow. He wore a raincoat coat and hat, and carried in his hand the Visa d'Or award. Word spread quickly: Leroy had located the Visa d'Or News winner and was on a mission to hand him the award, wherever he was. And so Leroy and his band of followers crowded onto a narrow street and waited outside a restaurant while someone went in to fetch Philip Blenkinsop.

Here is a video of the emotional moment (video may play after a short commercial):

Blenkinsop, who is part of the NOOR agency, won the award for his coverage of the China earthquake. This is Blenkinsop's third Visa d'Or. He also won a Visa d'Or News in 2005 and a Visa d'Or Feature in 2003.

Comments

[manu]

this makes me want to vomit

[WOL]

Does this rather nauseating circle wank have anything to do with the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people who died in China in this tragedy?

I doubt if Don Mcullin or Bert Hardy would have descended to these kind of antics...... Ever.

Shame on Visa pour l'image for what you have let yourself become. Shame on the 'profession' or validity of still photography for letting these kind of antics take place.

Shame.

[fellow photographer]

Philip is an amazing photographer and dedicated to his work. Why should people posting to this site be upset that he's recognized for his work and supported by his colleagues??? It's a nice moment.

[Hemloplop]

Whether he is amazing or not or dedicated or not. Not important. (IMHO - Amazing... No, Dedicated.... Perhaps. Pretentious and lacking humanity in his murky 'art'.... Yes.)

That's not the point. If Philip Blenkinhsop or the colleagues you talk about think this is anything other than embarrassing for the whole profession and distasteful when you look at the subject matter of massive loss of life, then 'photojournalism' has tumbled into a deeper and more self centered abyss than anyone could have figured.

Its not just Blenkinsop's fault. He is one of many. Leroy is the supreme culprit of professional 'cronyism'.... Various other opportunists maquerading as 'cutting edge' are equally to blame. These competitions long ago lost any real meaning. Visa may never have had meaning.

World Press did and that is now a travesty.

Meanwhile 'art' or simply 'bad' photography with shaky or zero 'journalism' causes 'photojournalists' (so called) to act like 5th rate soap stars winning meaningless prizes in front of those who aspire to be just as vacuous. Embarrassing for the whole profession if it still actually exists.

Like the other guy/gal (must be a Brit!) said...."circle wank."