The story relates to a the hoax winners of a French Photojournalism competition. It could be seen as situationalist art, but it also raises questions about the 'truth' that is often assumed to be embedded in photographs, and the apparent ease in manipulating the media.
For the online discussion see here
"I have been in conflict with my family since I was 16. Even if I don't have a scholarship nor parental assistance, I have always fended for myself"
Armin, 23, Master of Sociology
Paris-Match awarded their annual Grand Prix du Photoreportage Etudiant this week to two French students who submitted a photographic story that apparently presented images documenting the precarious lives of students today and the things they must do to survive.
When the two winners, Guillaume Chauvin and Remi Hubert, both art students at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Strasbourg, stood up at the Sorbonne to claim their trophy and prize money, they announced the true nature of their work. The images were not photojournalism but staged images featuring many of their peers. The winners claimed that the idea was hatched a year ago when they looked at all the work students were competing with for the 2008 prize. They realized that the “world view of this work was limited and seemed more like vacation photographs as opposed to photojournalism". The photographs depicted small children with big wet eyes in order to illustrate the misery abroad.”Speaking to Le Figaro, Guillaume Chauvin confided that they “wanted to enter the contest in order to show the codes used too often in photojournalism and to prove that something real could be translated into something staged.”
For the online discussion see here
2nd July update: This story has now been picked up by The Online Photographer and is generating more discussion here
