Winner of the 2nd edition of the SAIF/Benoît Schaeffer Grant, awarded during the international photojournalism festival Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan in 2024, José Nicolas brings together in this book a selection of emblematic images from across his career as a photojournalist. This monograph retraces the photographer’s journey, from his beginnings in the 1980s to his last reportage in 2017.
A true field testimony, On est ce que l’on regarde revisits his years as a war reporter in regions such as Rwanda, Afghanistan, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Central African Republic, and Bosnia. It also highlights his work within the Sipa agency, as well as his numerous collaborations with publications such as VSD, Le Point, and Le Pèlerin.
The book also touches on his humanitarian involvement from his earliest years, notably with Médecins Sans Frontières, and later through various foundations in Togo, Ghana, Haiti, and Madagascar. In 2014, José Nicolas embarked on an extensive project to preserve and enhance his photographic archives, delving into no fewer than 35 boxes of material, much of it retrieved from the Sipa agency.
He explains: “In the 1980s, an agency photographer focused exclusively on his images. The teams handled the rest: development, editing, distribution. This infrastructure allowed me to cover numerous events, whether related to conflicts, politics, humanitarian issues, or the military. I built an archive that is a memory: that of a profession at a particular time, but also fragments of History.”
To enrich the narrative and contextualize the events depicted, José Nicolas enlisted Frank Tenaille, journalist and writer specializing in geopolitics, to provide historical insights on certain images which, although sometimes distant in time, remain deeply rooted in our contemporary history.
On est ce que l’on regarde will be presented during a projection evening as part of Visa pour l’Image in early September 2025. A book signing session is also scheduled for the occasion.
On est ce que l’on regarde
de José Nicolas
Format 24,5 x 28 cm
352 pages
Date de parution : 1er septembre 2025
ISBN : 978-2-493152-09-1
Diffusion et distribution : SAVECA - Art & Paper