Every fall, the World Press Photo exhibition brings large-format photos of the crises of the past year to the Bonsecours Market. The event that opens this Wednesday triggers a wave of emotions among visitors: we cry at the human misery that unfolds before our eyes, we rage at seeing so much stupidity and injustice, and we are moved by the beauty that slips into the interstices of tragedy.
A Palestinian woman hugs the lifeless body of her niece wrapped in a white sheet. A father clutches the hand of his 15-year-old daughter emerging from the rubble of an earthquake in Turkey. A grandfather, submerged up to his chest in water, carries his grandson in what was once a village in Fiji, struggling with rising sea levels.
In the large air-conditioned room of the historic building in Old Montreal, each photo speaks to us. The destruction of the planet. The drought. The floods. The war. A flood in a country at war. The forest fires. But also the eyes of little Afghan refugees — stunned — in front of an apple brought home by their mother…
The 128 photos exhibited were selected from more than 61,000 photos submitted by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries. An image by Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, collaborator of the Dutyis among the award-winning works. The photo, published in the Toronto daily The Globe and Mailshows a firefighter mobilized against forest fires in northern Quebec, in the summer of 2023.
Diving into gloom
A series of projects document stories over several years, allowing for a deep dive into complex social phenomena. Tunisian-born photographer Zied Ben Romdhane recounts the disillusionment that has struck the youth of his native country since the “Arab Spring” of 2011.
This revolutionary season, which set the Arab world ablaze, began in Tunisia: Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit seller, set himself on fire to protest the corrupt government, endemic unemployment and lack of freedom. Ten days after the death of the young martyr, popular pressure forced President Ben Ali to relinquish power and leave the country.
Thirteen years later, Tunisia remains stuck in the same ruts. The ideal of democracy, social justice and freedom has faded. Economic inequalities are worsening.
“The pandemic has amplified the economic, social and political crisis. The cost of living has exploded. There is no work. Young people do not see a future for themselves in the country,” says Zied Ben Romdhane, reached at his mother’s house on the island of Djerba, off the coast of Tunisia.
A sign of the gloom in this Maghreb state, the 43-year-old photographer immigrated to Montreal in 2020. He often returns to his native country to continue documenting the crisis that drags on. His project is called The escape.
Glimmer of hope
An impression of deep sadness emerges from the black and white images of Zied Ben Romdhane. Smiles are rare in the shots. The young people find a little comfort in brotherhood, in electronic music or in “football”. But they seem to be bored to death.
“The weather is always very nice. Young people go to the beach, it’s very lively, but behind the scenes, there is a lot of depression and even suicide,” says the photographer.
Social services are failing. Mental health problems are multiplying. Tunisia’s shores have become a departure point for overcrowded boats bound for the European dream across the Mediterranean. Tunisians and desperate people from other African countries are crammed onto these makeshift boats.
Before going into exile, young and old people shout their anger in the streets. A wave of demonstrations swept through the capital in 2022. More than 40% of the Tunisian population is between the ages of 15 and 34. Unemployment is hitting hard among this idle youth — even among graduates.
Zied Ben Romdhane seeks to translate into images this “malaise”, this “sensation of loss” that envelops Tunisian society. Image by image, captured over more than a decade, visitors to World Press Photo are immersed in this climate of dejection.
The public has a hundred other photographs—from all over the world—to explore. By carefully browsing the exhibition, one finds a little hope in this cruel world. A mother who welcomes her son back from the front, two lovers who met on their long march toward a better world, an operation to save monarch butterflies…