Saguenay documentary photographer Charles-Frédérick Ouellet is one of the winners of the 2024 edition of the prestigious international photojournalism competition World Press Photo. A first in 25 years, since the last prize won in this competition by a Quebec artist dates back to 1999.
The black and white photo shows auxiliary firefighter Théo Dagnaud, who observes from the top of a rock the burned forest that surrounds him, during the forest fire season which devastated Quebec, in 2023.
This image is the result of a long process, explains Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, in an interview with The Press. Since 2021, the photographer and his collaborator Nicolas Leval have been producing a documentary on forest regeneration.
“We have been filming for several years, going into the field to capture what happens after the fire,” underlines the documentary photographer.
The co-directors worked closely with SOPFEU, which encouraged them to follow auxiliary combatant training in order to have access to the field. “So, when the fire season started, we were already ready,” says Charles-Frédérick Ouellet.
The photographer spent the summer of 2023 alongside forest firefighters as they fought the blazes ravaging Quebec’s forests.
But it wasn’t just the action that interested the photographer. The image selected by the World Press Photo jury is part of a series on the exhaustion of forest fighters. “My idea was not necessarily to evoke the flames, the combat, but much more to talk about the human experience behind it,” adds Charles-Frédérick Ouellet.
Thousands of submissions
The photo is among the 24 winning images of the regional competition revealed on Wednesday. No fewer than 3,851 photographers from 130 countries submitted a total of 61,000 images to the jury. The four overall winners, including the Photo of the Year award, will be announced on April 18.
Charles-Frédérick Ouellet is only the second Quebec winner of this prestigious international competition. The photographer Roger Lemoyne distinguished himself there 25 years before him with his photo of the funeral of Adem Neza, an Albanian who died during the Kosovo war.
This 69e edition of World Press Photo will visit 60 cities around the world, including Amsterdam, Taipei, Tunis and Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition will be in Montreal from August 28 to October 14, 2024, at the Marché Bonsecours.