Bayeux-Calvados Prize 2019: Focus on Syria
Each year, Bayeux hosts an event as exceptional as its subject: the war correspondents' prize. The 2019 edition shines a spotlight on Syria.
The 2019 edition
More than forty senior reporters gathered in Bayeux on 11 and 12 October 2019 to deliberate and award trophies in the photo, print, radio, television, long-form television, young reporter (print) and video image categories. Three special prizes were also awarded: the Région Normandie Prize for high-school and apprenticeship students (television), the People's Choice Prize (photo), and the Ouest-France – Jean Marin Prize (print).
The 2019 winners
Chaired by Gary Knight, the international jury of this 26th Bayeux Calvados-Normandie War Correspondents' Prize has delivered its verdict…
I am deeply honoured to chair, this year, the Jury of the Bayeux War Correspondents' Prize, and to pay tribute to the men and women who bring us reportage and images from theatres of war. I find this particularly important at a time when politicians and governments increasingly attack the media — including in countries where freedom of the press is enshrined in the constitution. War reporting is a vital and essential function of journalism. It is indispensable to civil society, to our notion of justice and accountability, and ultimately to respect for fundamental human rights.
From our discussions, two or three favourites quickly emerged in each category. Our exchanges were rich, interesting, lively and conducted in good spirits. I was delighted to see all my colleagues again and to debate this selection of reports with them. These moments enrich us all, help us grow, and that is wonderful.
Gary Knight
Young Reporter Prize – Crédit Agricole Normandie – Print: Wilson Fache, Gaza, a black year, Gaza, L'Orient-Le Jour, The National Newspaper, Vice
Radio Prize – Comité du Débarquement: Sami Boukhelifa, Journey to the end of the caliphate, Syria, RFI
Print Prize – Département du Calvados: Fritz Schaap, An epidemic and a war, Der Spiegel, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ouest-France – Jean Marin Print Prize: Fritz Schaap, An epidemic and a war, Der Spiegel, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Television Prize – Amnesty International: Orla Guerin, Lee Durant, Nicola Careem, Yemen: a bus hit by an airstrike, BBC News, Yemen
Région Normandie Prize for high-school and apprenticeship students – Television: Leo Ramirez, Jesus Olarte, Yorman Maldonado, Carlos Reyes, Natasha Vazquez and Edinson Estupinan, Venezuela: crisis at the border, AFP TV, Venezuela
Long-form Television Prize – City of Bayeux: Clément Gargoullaud, Shafat Farooq, Kashmir: faces of anger, Babel Press for Arte Reportage, India
Video Image Prize – Arte, France 24, France Télévisions: Clément Gargoullaud, Shafat Farooq, Kashmir: faces of anger, Babel Press for Arte Reportage, India
Photo Prize – Nikon: Patrick Chauvel, Syria, the end of Baghouz, freelance for Paris Match, Syria
People's Choice Photo Prize, sponsored by the Agence Française de Développement: Patrick Chauvel, Syria, the end of Baghouz, freelance for Paris Match, Syria
Of the 10 awards given, three concern the Syrian conflict — in particular the Nikon Photo Prize and the People's Choice Photo Prize, both awarded to Patrick Chauvel.
Credit: Patrick Chauvel
Spotlight on Patrick Chauvel
Patrick Chauvel has always photographed war, showing the human beast and its horrors while still capturing the glimmer of hope at the darkest moments of conflict. Wounded many times — stubborn, brave and hilarious — he is unmistakably cut from the cloth of the great adventurers, the Saint-Exupérys and the Kessels. Always closest to the combatants — beside them on patrol in the jungle, with them on the bridge pillar they're about to blow, evacuating the one just wounded — Patrick Chauvel bears witness to who these men are, men risking their lives for the promise of a new freedom.