WINNERS OF THE 1ST PHOTO BOOK GRANTS PROGRAM

4/11/2024

The Eyes Wide Open association (the cultural production arm of The Eyes label) is pleased to announce the 3 winners of the second edition of the Bourses du 1er livre photo awards, announced on November 4 during the Henri-Cartier Bresson gala evening.

 

  • KHASHAYAR JAVANMARDI – Dedicated to a photographer from a “Global South” country

  • STÉPHANIE LACOMBE – Grant for a French photographer or a photographer living in France

  • EVA DIALLO – Dedicated to a woman photographer of any nationality

 

Each grant of 5,000€ is awarded directly to the photographer for the production of her work. The photographer and her publisher will have 18 months to complete the project, culminating in the actual publication of the book.

The jury appreciated the quality of the 52 entries received for this first edition of the Bourses du 1er Livre Photo.

 

The jury was particularly concerned with the demands of the photographic approach, the originality of the subject and the reflections on the book itself as an object, and was also attentive to the importance of the grant’s contribution at this stage in the author’s career, as well as to the project’s projected financial package. These were sometimes difficult decisions to make, given the high quality of the entries.

 

This program is supported by the French Ministry of Culture and the Saif.

 

KHASHAYAR JAVANMARDI 
SPELL OF THE CASPIAN SEAS 

Grant dedicated to a photographer from a “Global South” country

 

 

Born in Iran, 1991. Lives and works in Lausanne.
SPELL OF THE CASPIAN LOTUS is a work about the pollution of the Caspian Sea, which scientists today consider to be “an ecological bomb”. The Caspian Sea is bounded by Iran to the south, Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the west, and Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to the east. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly independent states of Central Asia began to exploit the Caspian Sea. The main sources of pollution of the Caspian Sea are, on the one hand, the discovery, exploitation and transfer of oil from the sea and, on the other, sewage, waste and chemical poisoning. After being forced to leave Iran because of his political and cultural convictions, Javamardi’s work on the Caspian Sea also evokes the contradictions of his home country.
Loose Joints Editions

                                                                                                                                       photo : © Khashayar Javanmardi “Spell of the Caspian Lotus”
 
ORDER THE BOOK 

 

STÉPHANIE LACOMBE 
HAUTS LES COEURS 

Grant for a French photographer or a photographer living in France

 

Born in 1976, Stéphanie Lacombe.
HAUT LES CŒURS is a documentary journey to meet the inhabitants of the Hauts-de-France region hit by the economic crisis. A mobile-home campsite in Berk-sur-Mer (Immobile Home), a supermarket parking lot in the countryside (Hyper Life), a post-industrial town near Amiens (Somme Toute) are the locations of her encounters. The mini-stories that accompany the photos are another, more intimate journey, revealing people’s everyday concerns.
Éditions de Juillet

                                                                                                                                                                                                   photo : © Stéphanie Lacombe
 

EVA DIALLO 
BOLOL 

Grant dedicated to a woman photographer

 

 

Born in Lausanna, 1996. Lives and works in Dakar.
BOLOL is a family story. Two of the artist’s cousins migrated from Senegal to southern Italy, via Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Libya. Through fragments of light and sky, an upward glance, a journey through the bush or along an Italian country road, she shows her vision of this reality. Between family photos, urban reports, aerial images and portraits, Bolol is told to the rhythm of the adventures that took place between 2019 and 2023.
Bolol is therefore a family story, and at the same time a story lived and told by thousands of refugees and migrants. Bolol is a story of gentleness and poetry, but also of distress, risk and injustice. This book is a tribute.
Éditions Cécile Fakhoury

                                                                                                                                                                                          photo : © Eva Diallo
 

JURY 

  • Clément Chéroux – Director, Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation

  • Lucy Conticello – Director of photography, M le Monde

  • Fannie Escoulen – Head of the Photography Department, Ministry of Culture

  • Mathilde de Galbert – Bookseller, founder of Librairie sans titre and the Accidents fair

  • Florine Garcin – Head of cultural projects at SAIF 

  • Véronique Prugnaud & Vincent Marcilhacy : Publisher The Eyes / Founder Eyes Wide Open.

  • Mathilde Milesi  – Editorial coordinator The Eyes

 

Presse kit