World Days: Photography & Humanitarian Action
19 August is a very special day for us, on more than one count — on two, to be exact. 19 August is at once World Photography Day and World Humanitarian Day.
World Photography Day
Let's start with World Photography Day: 19 August celebrates "the invention of photography." Of course, this date is debatable — it marks the day the French parliamentarian and scientist François Arago presented the invention of to the Academy of Sciences. On that day, 19 August 1839, the French State purchased the .
This photographic process made it possible to capture an image without using a negative, thanks to a silver layer polished like a mirror and directly exposed to light. An ancestor of instant photography, in a way.
Of course, also played a major role in the invention of photography, but World Photography Day somewhat forgets that.
World Humanitarian Day
World Humanitarian Day, for its part, was established on 11/12/2008. It was set up by the UN General Assembly through resolution 63/139.
…to designate 19 August as World Humanitarian Day in order to contribute to raising public awareness of humanitarian activities worldwide and of the importance of international cooperation in this field, and to pay tribute to all humanitarian personnel, United Nations personnel, and associated personnel who work to promote the humanitarian cause, as well as to those who have lost their lives in the performance of their duties, and invites all Member States, United Nations system entities within existing resources, as well as other international and non-governmental organisations, to mark this Day each year as appropriate.
This day was chosen in tribute to 19 August 2003, the date of a bomb attack on the UN Office in Iraq that killed 22 people. Beyond Iraq, the aim is to make it a true reflection of the global humanitarian community.
19 August on www.nicolas-beaumont.com
For us, this date is therefore doubly important, and we invite you to watch — or re-watch — some of our work.
- Film "Act now to Save tomorrow"
- Exhibition "An Autumn in Macenta"
- Film "Ebola Survivors"
- Indonesian Red Cross