The ICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or Award has been awarded annually to a professional photojournalist who has covered a humanitarian issue related to an armed conflict since 2011. It is part of the annual Visa pour l’image international festival of photojournalism, which takes place in Perpignan, France.
History
In 2011, the regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in France decided to create the “ICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or Award”, endowed with 8,000 euros. The aim is to honor the work photojournalists carry out every day in the field and to promote international humanitarian law through the lens of photography.
In its 15 editions, the Humanitarian Visa d'or has explored various facets of the humanitarian consequences of armed conflict:
2011 - 2014: Respect for medical missions in wartime 2015 - 2017: Women in war 2018 - 2021: Wars in cities 2022 - 2023: Forced displacement of populations 2024 - 2025: The fate of civilians in armed conflicts
Awards winners
2025 Theme: The fate of civilians in armed conflicts
Saher Alghorra, a Palestinian photographer, for his report entitled We Have No Escape, produced in the Gaza Strip. Through a series of images, he documents the daily life of a population that has been in conflict since October 7, 2023. For more than 17 months, Saher Alghorra has captured scenes of survival, suffering, and also resilience, bringing us close to the lives of families.
2024 Theme: The fate of civilians in armed conflicts
Hugh Kinsella Cunningham, a British photographer, for his work on refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2023 Theme: The living conditions of migrants
Federico Rios Escobar, an independent Colombian photographer, for a photo report on migrants in the Darién Gap.
2022 Theme: Forced displacement of populations
Sameer Al-Doumy for his report “Routes of Death”, on migrants attempting to cross into England from Calais, produced for Agence France-Presse.
2021 Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civilians
Antoine Agoudjian, whose report for Le Figaro Magazine “powerfully depicts the heavy toll paid by civilians during the latest escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, with intense shelling and fighting in urban areas on both sides of the front line.”
2020 Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civilians
Alfredo Bosco, freelance photographer and contributor to Luz Photo Agency in Milan, won the 10th edition of the ICRC Humanitarian Visa d’or AwardAlfredo Bosco: The ICRC Humanitarian Visa d’Or Award 2020, The Eye of the Photography, September 2020 for his report on the drug war in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Geopolitical crises are the main focus of his work.
2019 Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civiliansAbdulmonam Eassa, Syrian photojournalist, born in 1995, now refugee in France, was rewarded for a report about the humanitarian consequences of the fighting in Eastern Ghouta in 2018.'Disclose' wins Visa d'or for probe into French arms in Yemen, RFI, 6 September 2019 He started his career in photojournalism as a self-taught freelance photographer. He works with Agence France Presse.
2018 Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civiliansVéronique de Viguérie, French photojournalist was rewarded for her report “Heroines, war made”,Véronique de Viguerie wins Visa d'Or photojournalism prize for Yemen work, France 24, 10 September 2018 which pays tribute to Yemeni women, surviving in urban areas, and who in the absence of men, act as heads of families or also nurses. She works with Getty Images and Verbatim Photo Agency, among others.
2017 Theme: Women in warAngela Ponce Romero, Peruvian photojournalist from the Diario Correo, was rewarded for her work entitled “Ayacucho” accomplished in Peru.Peruvian photographer Angela Ponce Romero wins Humanitarian Visa d’Or award, RFI, 19 September 2017 "Ayacucho”, from the Quechua words “aya” meaning “corpse” and “cucho” meaning “corner,” is the “corner of the dead.” Her report covers commemorative events held in Ayacucho, in 2016 and 2017, with families still looking for their relatives gone missing during the civil war in the 80s.
2016 Theme: Women in warJuan Arredonde, Colombian-American photojournalist who often works with the New York Times and National Geographic, was rewarded for his photo essay “Born into Conflict: Child soldiers in Colombia”.Documenting Colombia's child soldiers, Global Journalist, 3 December 2018
2015 Theme: Women in warDiana Zeyneb Alhindawi, photojournalist for the New York Times, WSJ, Le Monde and Vice was rewarded in 2015 for her work entitled “Minova rape trials” shot in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Photos of Landmark Africa rape trial garner prize, Newsweek, 16 August 2015
2014 Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflictWilliam Daniels, French photojournalist and contributor to National Geographic, received the ICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or Award for his work entitled “Humanitarian Crisis in the Central African Republic.” La Centrafrique en rage à Visa pour l'image, RFI, 5 September 2014
2013 Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflict
Sebastiano Tomada (Piccolomini), American photojournalist, working with Getty Images, was rewarded for his report in Syria called « Life and Death in Aleppo ».Photojournalism: Sebastiano Tomada wins the ICRC’s Humanitarian Visa d'Or prize for a report from Syria, ICRC website, 21 June 2013
2012 Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflict
Mani, Franco-Algerian photojournalist and film-maker, was awarded in 2012 for his report “Syria, Inside Homs”, produced for the French media Le Monde. Humanitarian visa d'or for photojournalism on health-care challenges in Syria, ICRC website, 5 September 2012
2011 Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflict
Catalina Martin-Chico, Spanish-French photographer with the Cosmos agency, was the first winner of the ICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or Award for her report “The First Square Kilometer of Freedom: Change Square, Sana’a, Yemen.” Visa pour l'image 2011 : le palmarès, Le Monde de la photo, 04/09/2011
References