The event, taking place on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Tim’s death, saw the Trust bestow this year’s Visionary Award of £20,000 and a special mentorship on one of a shortlist of five artists and journalists. Stephen Mayes, executive director of the Trust, said the recipient of the award should be someone who “takes [Tim’s] ethos and develops it in a way to better understand the world”.

The evening began with a discussion with the recipients of last year’s Visionary Award, Kel O’Neill and Eline Jongsma. The American and Dutch duo’s project entitled The Ark traces the decline of the northern white rhinoceros through an immersive documentary that “explores how contemporary conservation tactics reflect Western attitudes toward Africa.” The piece follows armed rangers in Kenya who battle to preserve the last remaining herd, while also filming scientists in San Diego attempt to “de-extinct” the rhino using stem cell technology.

Eline Jongsma & @keloneill discuss their project @TheArkVR with Stephen Mayes of @TimsTrust #VirtualReality pic.twitter.com/anBxfFbWvR

— Frontline Club (@frontlineclub) April 19, 2016

The two-person documentary crew have worked together since 2009 and created their project through a blend of different media, including virtual reality. “We always like to choose a form that matches the content. The story is about humanity’s relationship with a technology we’re ambivalent about – stem cell – made using a technology we’re ambivalent about – virtual reality,” Jongsma said. “It was impossible to make this without the Trust,” O’Neill said, adding: “It’s an amazing honour.”

Mayes announced this year’s winner as Dominic Bracco II. Bracco’s ambitious project beat off stiff competition, including explorations of issues ranging from the Rwandan genocide and Ebola in Sierra Leone, to the poisonous water in Flint, Michigan. Bracco’s project, The Backs of Men, is set in the borderlands of Texas, Mexico and Honduras and through a combination of photography, video, and theatre, Bracco “attempts to break down the physical and societal borders we place around ourselves.” Mayes said the review panel were particularly impressed by the progress he had made on a seemingly impossible project.

Dominic Bracco II discusses his project The Backs of Men

Speaking via Skype from New York, Bracco said he had spent years working in Juarez, South Texas and Honduras, taking photos that “didn’t speak to the nuance of being there and being a part of it.” He described the £20,000 prize as a “game changer” that will help him find a space to perform theatre and exhibit photographs so that an audience can “experience the play but also other media.”

Bracco added: “Tim did so much for photojournalists. He was a great visionary who created amazing powerful work and was also willing to work with other people.”

.@StephenMayes of @TimsTrust discusses the work of Dominic Braco II, combining theatre & documentary film pic.twitter.com/o9YooVS7fp

— Frontline Club (@frontlineclub) April 19, 2016

Mayes then announced the winner of the inaugural Tim Hetherington World Press Photo Fellowship, awarded to Ghanaian photographer Nana Kofi Acquah, whose main area of interest is the history of slavery in Africa and how the rest of the world views the continent. “What the world sees of Africa is often a negative, stereotypical image,” he said.

Judy Hetherington, Tim’s mother, concluded the evening by thanking everyone who works so hard to honour Tim’s memory and promote his ethos.

An eclectic mix of friends and colleagues joined together at the Frontline Club on Monday 20th April, in celebration of two photographers that not only captured the realities of war, but also explored the frontiers of artistic imagery.

On the fourth anniversary of their death, an audience full of friends, family, colleagues and admirers remembered photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, with a reflection on their groundbreaking work, and a showcase of the work of others that they have inspired.

Stephen Mayes talks about Tim Hetherington

Stephen Mayes, executive director of the Tim Hetherington Trust, introduced the evening with the precursor: “In the spirit of Tim and Chris, we want tonight to be looking at growing and going forwards.”

Daniel Meadows, Tim’s teacher at Cardiff University, shared stories of the years he taught him at university, and explained that even from the start Tim was pushing the boundaries of multimedia storytelling. Playing the incredibly evocative ‘House of Pain’, a video of stills from a night Tim spent following staff at Monmouth Hospital A&E, Meadows painted the picture of a photojournalist whose work and ethos would go on to have a tremendous impact.

Self-styled ‘story-breaker’ Topaz Adizes then showcased his award-winning interactive documentary ‘The And’, and described the influence Tim had on him to break down and re-mould the traditional forms of photography and documentary.

Topaz Adizes discusses his multimedia project ‘The And’

“Tim always used to say, ‘How can we create new stories and break past paradigms to create new stories?’ That’s what he was very conscientious about, and what I have tried to do.”

Geoff Johnston, an artist and curator who shared a studio with Tim, shared with the audience some touching raw footage of Tim being interviewed by one of Johnston’s students about his project with a blind school in Sierra Leone after the civil war.

“I wanted to explore imagery and communication ideas, but I also wanted to explore the idea of war. In the project, you think you are in a very sweet story about the blind. But then in the middle of the story, this hammer comes down, and this kid starts talking about how he is blind because he had hot plastic dripped into his eyes during the war,” said Tim in the video.

Tim Hetherington’s legacy of experimental story-telling continues on with the introduction of the Tim Hetherington Trust Visionary Award, won this year by filmmaking team Eline Jongsman and Kel O’Neill, who joined the audience via video-link.

Paul Halliday, Tim’s friend and collaborator, shared some of his work that later influenced Tim as he was developing into a well-known photojournalist. Guy Martin, Tim’s friend and fellow photojournalist, also shared his latest work ‘City of Dreams’, and discussed the continuing evolution of documentary photography.

Each of the speakers shared their private memories with the audience, in an evening that celebrated Tim and Chris’s work and the legacy that succeeds them.

“This is a bitter sweet day,” said Aidan Sullivan, showing a video of Chris Hondros’ prolific work in war zones. As the audio recording of Chris’ voice said in the background: “I think you need a little bit of distance from these events [war]. History will decide which pictures endure.”

Watch and listen back:

Join more than 15 photojournalists from the prestigious agency VII Photo for a half-day seminar on photojournalism at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

The seminar will be split into three panel discussions with opportunities to ask questions and learn more about the work of VII and the state of modern photojournalism.

9:00 Keynote address 

Director and Founder of the Frontline Club Vaughan Smith 

9:30 The Creation of VII – The role of photojournalism in the 21st century

With Ron Haviv, Christopher Morris, Seamus Murphy and Franco Pagetti. Moderated by Max Houghton.

11:00 Photographic Education: Finding your way

With Ashley Gilbertson, Ron Haviv, Gary Knight and Anastasia Taylor-Lind. Moderated by Paul Lowe.

12:30 The New Economy: How to fund your projects

With Venetia Dearden, Ed Kashi, Tomas van Houtryve, Jon Jones (The Sunday Times),  Gary Knight and Donald Weber. Moderated by Stephen Mayes.

14:00 Book signing of Questions Without Answers – The World in Pictures by the Photographers of VII and more.

The seminar will be followed by portfolio reviews with eight VII Photo photographers. More details on how to book a portfolio review are available here.

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