About

ABOUT



The FotoEvidence Association is located in France , 1 Rue du Merlan, Marseillan, 34340 (SIREN:  910871714) and the VII Foundation serves as its fiscal sponsor in the United States.  US tax deductible contributions can be sent to the VII Foundation indicating that it is intended for FotoEvidence. VII Foundation, 429 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036 USA (EIN: 510427657).

 

Established in 2020 in Montpellier, France the FotoEvidence Association works at the intersection of human rights and photography through the FotoEvidence Book Award and the FotoEvidence W Award for a woman photographer. The organization aims to expand and support the work of FotoEvidence, a publishing house established in 2010, dedicated to documentary photography focused on human rights and social and ecological justice. Originally based in Brooklyn, New York, FotoEvidence now operates from the village of Marseillan in Herault, France.
 
Our mission is to draw attention to injustice, oppression and assaults on human dignity through the lens of photographers working in this humanistic tradition. FotoEvidence books focus on the most pressing social and environmental justice issues of our time—from genocide to global warming. They are published to inspire social change, to expose injustice, to create enduring evidence and call for accountability.
FotoEvidence publishes the work of the award winners in high-quality, hardbound photo books. The FotoEvidence Book Award winner and two finalists are exhibited  at the FotoEvidence Book Award exhibit at the Bronx Documentary Center in New York, and at the International Month of Photojournalism Festival in Padua, Italy,  as well as other venues depending on the photographer and the issue addressed.
 
Images alone will not change the world, so FotoEvidence Association often collaborates with advocacy organizations whose participation increases the impact of the photography.  FotoEvidence has worked with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Fortify Rights, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, ChildFund Australia, World Vision and several other international NGOs working on children’s health, women’s rights, indigenous rights and human rights in general. 
 
 
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
 
 

Co-Presidents: Keyvan Ghavami and Darcy Padilla

Treasurer- Elitza Goudemand

Secretary: Alain Doudies

Peter Bouckaert

Aida Muluneh

Finbarr O'Reilly

David Stuart

Advisory Board: Dimitri Beck, Maral Deghati, James Whitlow Delano, Alice Driver, Tanya Habjouqa, Mike Kamber, Regina Monfort, Hadezhda Pavlova, Ramon Pez.

BIOS

 

PARTNERS

FotoEvidence Association maintains partnerships with the Bronx Documentary Center in New York, where it mounts an annual exhibit for the Book Award winner, and with the VII Academy in Arles, who sponsor the FotoEvidence W Award.

As the association develops, we will be seeking corporate partners to help us fund future books and exhibit projects. For more information please contact info@fotoevidence.com

Above: Patrick Brown, recipient of the 2019 FotoEvidence Book Award presents his book No Place on Earth in a conversation with Mikael Owunna and Mario Cruz at the World Press Photo Festival in Amsterdam. Ten Years FotoEvidence exhibit at Aveiro Photo Fest, Portugal.     FOTOEVIDENCE PRESS

FotoEvidence Press was founded in 2010 by Svetlana Bachevanova and David Stuart to continue the tradition of using photography to draw attention to human rights violations, injustice, oppression and assaults on human dignity wherever they may occur. Photographs have not only changed people’s perception but, in some cases, altered the course of history.

For ten years, the FotoEvidence Book Award recognized one photographer whose work demonstrates courage and commitment in the pursuit of social justice and, in 2017-2021, FotoEvidence partnered with World Press Photo.  The book award was renamed the FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo. The selected project is published by FotoEvidence as part of a series of photo books dedicated to the work of photographers, whose commitment and courage deliver  truths, creating awareness and intolerance towards violations of human dignity.

In 2018 FotoEvidence launched The W Award, devoted to engaged women photographers who want to tell their stories in the form of a photo book.  At this moment, women around the world are seeking equal rights and equal opportunity.  The FotoEvidence W Award for Personal Story will suppot this movement. It will be granted by an international jury to one woman  whose work merits a book. The hardbound book is be published by FotoEvidence. Two other photographers will receive honorable mentions.

Past recipients of the FotoEvidence Book Award include: Javier Arceniilas for “Sicarios: Latin American Assassins”, Alex Masi for “Bhopal: Second Disaster,” Robin Hammond for “Condemned: Mental Health in African Countries in Crisis”, Majid Saeedi for “Life in War", Marcus Bleasdale for "The Unravelling" ,Daniella Zalcman for "Signs of Your Identity", Josue Rivas for "Standing Strong", Patrick Brown with "No Place on Earth" and Antonio Faccilongo with "Habibi"

Past finalists for the  book award include: Massimo Berruti, Valerio Bispuri, Paula Bronstein, Fabio Bucciarelli, William Daniels, Maxim Dondyuk, Michelle Frankfurter, Tanya Habjouqa , Jon Lowenstein, Fernando Moreles, Boniface Mwangi, Joao Pina, Andrea Star Reese, Vlad Sokhin, Lizzie Sadin, Lisa Wiltse, Mario Cruz, Hossein Fatemi, Ingetje Tadros, Narciso Contreras, Jan Grarup, Amnon Gutman, Alessio Romenzi ,Fabian Muir, Danielle Villasana, Zackary Canepari Fausto Podavini, Mikael Owunna, Alejandro Cegarra and Daniel Berhulak.

OTHER BOOKS

In addition to publishing the winner of the FotoEvidence Book Award, FotoEvidence has worked with several finalists to crowd fund the publication of a book of their work. As a result of these collaborations, FotoEvidence has published Crying Meri: Violence Against Women in Papua New Guinea by Vlad Sokhin, Urban Cave by Andrea Star Reese, Destino by Michelle Frankfurter and Occupied Pleasures by Tanya Habjouqa, Endurance by Omar Havana, This is My Country by Ingetje Tadros, The Dream by Fabio Bucciarelli, Talibes Modern Day Slaves by Mario Cruz, Gaza Girl: Growing up in the Gaza Strip by Monique Jaques.and the English ediiton of 46750 by Joao Pina.

FotoEvidence also pioneered in the publication of digital photo books. When FotoEvidence published Bronx Boys by Stephen Shames, Paul Moakley at TIME Magazine called it, “one of the first true digital photo-monographs that can be downloaded to your computer.” (Time.com, August 16, 2011). Since then FotoEvidence has published a series of digital photo books available through the iTunes bookstore.

RECOGNITION

 * He Threw The Last Punch Too Hard is shortlisted for the Lucie Photo Book Prize.

 * He Threw The Last Punch Too Hard is selected as one of the Best photo books for 2020 by Women Photograph and Buzzfeed

  • 46750 by Joao Pina selected as a finalist Lucie Photo Book Prize, winner FOLA Photobook Prize, finalist of the Prix Nadar Gens d'Image, 2018.
  • A Light Inside by Danielle Villasana selected among the Best Photobooks of the Year 2018 by Women Photograph.
  • The Dream by Fabio Bucciarelli is selected among the  Best Photobooks of the Year 2016 by TIME magazine.
  • Signs of Your Identity by Daniella Zalcman among the Most Stunning Photo Books of 2016 by Mother Jones.
  • Signs of Your Identity by Daniella Zalcmanis selected as one of the Best Books of 2016 by Photo-eye.
  • The Unravelling by Marcus Bleasdale was selected as one of the best books of the 2015 by Smithsonian magazine and Mother Jones magazine.
  • Occupied Pleasures was selected as one of the best books of 2014 by TIME magazine.
  • Destino by Michelle Frankfurter was included among the best photo books of the year by Vogue Italy and Photo-eye in 2014.
  • Sicarios: Latin American Assassins by Javier Arcenillas was selected as one of the best books of the year by Photo-eye in 2012.
  • Black Tsunami by James Whitlow Delano received the PX3 Bronze Prize for digital photo books in 2012.
IMPACT: Photography and Social Change

Crying Meri by Vlad Sokhin

After publication as a FotoEvidence book award finalist, Vlad Sokhin was contacted by the United Nations Commiionser of Human Rights (UNOHCHR) reqiuesting to use his photographs in a  public education campaigns by the Untied Nations in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This campaign was joined by UN Women, Amnesty Internationa, ChildFund Austrailal and several othe NGOs working in Papua New Guinea. Sokhin's images were used in borchures, exhibits and even carried in demonstrations. FotoEvidence crowdfunded Sokhins book, reaching approximately 35,000 individuals. International attention and a public outcry by concerned citizens brought a response. Sokhins book release happended in the Parliament House of PNG with the Prime Minister in attendence. The parliament passed nation's first law prohibiting domestic violence that year and soon eliminated a law that forgave violence against "sorcerers."

The 2016 FotoEvidence Book Award  finalist Mario Cruz has also seen his work Talibes Modern Day Slaves provoke and immediate response from the government of Senegal. Cruz gained rare access to false Quaranic schools (daaras) in Senegal where a valid educational tradition has been corrupted, leaving boys in the hands of exploitative teachers (mahouds) who forced them to beg on the street eight hours a day to support the teacher.  Cruz captured powerful and disturbing photographs of the lives of young boys subjected to slave-like conditions.
 
We published Talibes Modern Day Slaves on our website and he received recognition from World Press Photo, who exhibited his work in their traveling exhibit. In June, shortly after “Talibes Modern Day Slaves” came off the press, the President of Senegal, Macky Sali, ordered the registration of all daaras in Senegal, and effort to distinguish legitimate schools from exploitative ones.  He also order the police to identify and assist boys begging on the streets and to close the schools that sent them out to beg.  The government also used Cruz’s photographs in a public education brochure alerting the public to the issue and encouraging them to report beggars and help identify illegitimate daaras.
 

The photographers and works published by FotoEvidence have been recognized with many other awards, including: multiple World Press Photo Awards, the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic photography, the Visa Pour ['Image- Remi Ochlik Award, the Robert R Kennedy Photojournalism Award, Picture of the Year International, the National Press Photographers Association Award, World Understanding Award, and the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund grant.

A Light Inside by Danielle Villasana  inspired the medical community in Lima, Peru to create a consultation center dedicated to the treatment of trans women.

Who We Are

 
 

 

CONTACT

For questions about FotoEvidence:

info@fotoevidence.com
For questions about the FotoEvidence Book Award:
dstuart@fotoevidence.com
For problems with Book Award submission, contact:
nabeel@fotoevidence.com
For media Inquiries contact:
Svetlana@fotoevidence.com
 
To pitch a project to FotoEvidence contact:
Svetlana@fotoevidence.com

 
 

 

Interviews