The COVID-19 pandemic has not broken the spirit of the world's major photojournalism festival, and it was all the more crucial to maintain the edition in these difficult times "when many photojournalists have been struggling, with close to no orders for months", Jean-François Leroy, director of Visa, said at a press video conference.

Agence France-Presse will be present this year through 3 exhibitions among the 20 on display:
 

• L'Afrique de Chiba, by Yasuyoshi Chiba, winner of World Press Photo 2020, with pictures from across the African continent.

• Hong Kong, by Anthony Wallace, features the pro-democracy protests that sparked numerous confrontations with the city’s police. 

• Pandemies, a collective exhibition highlighting the impact of what is so far the event of the Century.

As for the competition, two AFP photojournalists have been nominated in the festival's most prestigious categories:

• Visa d'or Magazine, Hector Retamal, from AFP's Shanghai bureau, for "Wuhan. Destination: Virus", alongside Bryan Denton and Ryan Christopher Jones, both from the New York Times.

• Visa d'or News, Nicolas Asfouri from AFP's Beijing bureau, for "Hong Kong protests", alongside Fabio Bucciarelli for The New York Times (Bergamo, Covid-19 in Italy) and Peter Turnley (The human face of Covid-19 in New York).

AFP photographers have won this particular award on several occasions: in 2003, it went to Georges Gobet, in 2015 to Bülent Kiliç, in 2016 to Aris Messinis and in 2019 to Guillermo Arias.

A 2020 distinction has already been awarded to an AFP photojournalist, with Anthony Wallace receiving the Ville de Perpignan Rémi Ochlik Award 2020 for his work in Hong Kong (find out more).

From Monday, August 31 to Saturday, September 5, Visa pour l'Image will post an online screening every day (each available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the following day) recounting the most significant events that happened from September 2019 to August 2020.

Screenings will also take place at Chapelle de la Funeraria in Campo Santo. The screenings will be played in a loop every hour, and entrance restricted to 100 people at a time, wearing masks.

Events and meetings will also be held online. Visit the festival website to consult the calendar, updated on a regular basis.