“I was really looking into love stories, mixed marriages which are bridges between people who are apart because of their religion, because of the war,” Photographer Veronique de Viguerie, a winner of the recent All About Photo awards, tells the Phoblographer in an interview. Veronique has been covering the war against ISIS for years, and this image was shot just a month after Mosul was freed. “I was looking into a hope story when my fixer called me and told me that there was a wedding in East Mosul. I was working in the Western side of the city, I took a taxi, and I arrived as the bride was getting her makeup done in the beauty salon.” Here, they took the photo in front of the destroyed houses of the war. Her life as a photojournalist is truly difficult, but the images she makes are worth it.
All images by Veronique De Viguerie. Used with permission. Please find more of her work on Instagram @veroniquedeviguerie and her website. Thanks to All About Photo for coordinating this.
Veronique de Viguerie as a Photographer
Veronique first got into photography when she was younger. Most of her images were the type of things that you’d find on a postcard. At the age of 10, she got her first SLR camera. But these days, she uses the Panasonic Lumix S1R and S5. She also uses a 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm lens. “I only use fixed lenses and the same one, so the distance with the story I am photographing is becoming instinctive, and I can concentrate on the background, the construction, and the meaning of my image, knowing exactly where I should be,” she tells us.
To most photojournalists, this would sound either romantic or a bit tough for them to do. Perhaps that’s yet another reason why Veronique’s images are so incredible.
She also admits that she mostly gets it right in-camera. “I am not very good with post-production, and I do what is ethically accepted for photojournalism: not more than what we can do in a dark room (contrast, cropping, lighting).
The Life of a Photojournalist
For Veronique, the best stories are often unpublished — especially in conflict zones. “…we see amazing things, some solidarity, some love, some altruism that you usually don’t see,” she explains. “Because in conflicts people are out of their comfort zone, and everything can happen, they become amazing extraordinary. I think that’s what I am looking for, and that’s payback for all the misery and violence we witness.” And as a photojournalist, she works to tell the most honest stories she can. To that end, she’s also not really afraid of AI in photojournalism despite lots of misinformation campaigns out there. In her eyes, she’s focused on really just trying to tell the truth.
“Of course, it will be easier to manipulate images, but it has always been possible,” she tells us. “We, as photojournalists, are slaves of the truth, we cannot manipulate our pictures, that’s why we are sent on the fields, to come back with real images. And AI will not be able to do this.” What Veronique does is far different from illustrations — she documents exactly what’s in front of her instead.
These days, Veronique is represented by Getty Reportage and Verbatim Photo Agency.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.