Bayeux Prize: Iranian photojournalist Manoocher Deghati in the spotlight

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Iranian photojournalist and war reporter Manoocher Deghati is the president of the jury for the 28th edition of the Bayeux Prize. On this occasion, an exhibition entitled “Eyewitnessed” pays tribute to his forty-five year career around the world.

Twenty-five photos signed by Manoocher Deghati and forty-five years of images, mostly portraits of women and children, displayed in the streets of Bayeux, in Normandy. From October 4 to 31, an exhibition called “Eyewitnessed” pays tribute to the career of the Iranian photojournalist, president of the jury of the 28e edition of the Bayeux Calvados-Normandie prize.

“My goal was not to photograph those who wage war, it was to photograph people who pay for war with their lives. And it is especially children and women who pay the most in war”, testifies Manoocher Deghati, on France 24.

Among the most striking photos, a photo taken in 1982 in Evin prison, Iran. All the women in it were executed.

“Under the Islamist regime of Iran, with Shiite laws, it was forbidden to execute virgin girls or women. So the day before – it seems unimaginable to us – people were going to marry them so that they were no longer virgins and for be able to perform them, ”says the photographer.

“We cannot live without journalists”

Witness to history, Manoocher Deghati has never given up on his profession, despite the risks. “Society needs that. We can’t live without journalists who bring us the truth, the true story that can change history,” he explains.

“My goal is to inform the public, but especially the younger generations. They are the ones who make the future”, he insists, before concluding: “It is important to educate, to talk about what it’s happening in the world, what it means to be a journalist and how you deal with the truth. “