The MEP Pays Tribute to a Major Figure of French Photojournalism
The Maison Européenne de la Photographie is welcoming back French photojournalist Marie-Laure de Decker with a major posthumous retrospective. Organized at the initiative of her son Pablo Saavedra de Decker, “L’image comme engagement” paints the portrait of a young trailblazer who established herself as one of the leading female photojournalists in a field that, even today, remains very male-dominated. Marie-Laure de Decker has documented numerous armed conflicts and much of the historical upheaval of the second half of the 20th century. Prominently featured in major national and international media, she was also recognized for her portraits of leading figures from the cultural world.
War photographer, but later also fashion and film photographer, she bore witness to forty years of social, political and societal struggles all over the world. She is especially famous for having been the only white woman photographer to document the uprisings in Soweto township during apartheid, as well as one of the only female photojournalists to capture the Vietnam War. Curated by Victoria Aresheva, the exhibition features previously unseen works from both exceptional family archives and the MEP collections.
Accompanied by the photographic projects of Ilanit Illouz and Val Souza, the exhibition was inaugurated on June 2nd, in the presence of Pablo Saavedra de Decker, Simon Baker, Teo Saavedra, Pierre Lungheretti and many others.
Photos: Jean Picon
