Photojournalism, by Photojournalists. IMAGO Voices.

With IMAGO sponsoring the UK Editors’ Guild Awards held on October 17, celebrating photojournalists and their stories, The Game spoke to some of IMAGO’s photojournalists to get to the bottom of what it means to be a photojournalist.

Born in 1977, the UK Editors’ Guild has been a platform for editors to collaborate and exchange ideas, as well as celebrating the many talented photojournalists who have entered their works. 

As photojournalism tells the stories of both the iconic or monumental, and the niche or forgotten moments that make our world, IMAGO gives photojournalists a chance to speak about their work and the different reasons photojournalism is important today.

For our Local Heroes series, this is photojournalism, by photojournalists.

Ashraf Amra – Documenting life in Gaza.

“Photojournalism is very important because it carries a strong message that works to change reality from the worst to the best, convey people’s problems to the world, and play an important role in finding solutions to multiple crises.”

“It is imperative that we continue our work in order to convey human suffering everywhere, especially in the Gaza Strip, which suffers from the scourge of repeated wars, siege and poverty. Our message is sublime and objective.”

See our previous feature on the Women of Gaza. Full interview coming soon. 

Vincenzo Circosta – One of IMAGO’s newest members, reporting in Europe from Italy to Ukraine.  

“I have always had a passion for documenting what was happening around me. I come from nature photography, a fascinating world, and I liked to approach subjects like a press photojournalist and I understood that this was my world — to tell what surrounds us through photographs.”

“I think we must always tell the truth. The role of the photographer is to tell through images the stories of the place where he is. In my case, I show what it means to participate in a war and suffer the consequences. And my hope is that they won’t be repeated in the future.”

Adrien Vautier – Conflict photojournalism from Afghanistan to Ukraine. 

“I think photojournalism is as important as any other profession in journalism. Press photographers bring their own vision of the news, every journalist, regardless of the medium, has a role to inform the public in an ethical way. “

“I don’t expect anything in particular, I produce information so that it can be broadcast in the media…Afghanistan has upset me, the great poverty, the fate of children and women, the long years of war that have ruined the country, it’s not easy… And of course the fate of the Ukrainians, a war I have been covering since February.”

Sadak Souici – Capturing the hidden stories.

“We are image journalists who must report stories as close to reality as possible. In recent years, hundreds of images have circulated on social media about conflict, politics and the environment. Our role is to verify the information and the images that are in the field.”

See our previous interview on his work in Ukraine and Nigeria. 

“The more I progress in my life as a photojournalist, the more I think it is important to support it and explain it to the rest of the world.”

Ton Molina – Brazil’s indigenous community fighting for existence.

“This is the power of photography, to prove in an image the undeniable. To do journalism  with images in the fight for the maintenance of a free, independent press to denounce what  needs to be denounced and applaud what is done well.”

“If I had to sum up in one word what I want to achieve with my photos, my gaze and my camera lens, the word would be FIGHT. By recording the acts and manifestations of indigenous peoples in my country, I feel myself fighting with them for the right to demarcate their lands and to live in peace.”

See our previous interview on documenting protests in Brasilia.

Photos by Ashraf Amra, Vincenzo Circosta, Dominika Zarycka, Adrien Vautier, Sadak Souici, and Ton Molina. Part of out Local Hereos series.