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.

The Hetherington family and the Tim Hetherington Trust invite friends, colleagues and everyone interested in Tim’s extraordinary life to spend an evening at The Frontline Club exploring his dynamic legacy through the work of artists and journalists who continue to expand his innovative approach to visual media. The evening will introduce new work by some familiar friends, as well as some hitherto unknown voices who are bringing fresh energy to today’s media.

We will present a first look at the virtual reality project ‘The Ark’ by Eline Jongsma and Kel O’Neill, produced with support from the Tim Hetherington Trust and premiering simultaneously at Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The Trust will unveil the revised Tim Hetherington Fellowship, developed in association with the World Press Photo, and the evening will culminate with presentations by the five newly short-listed artists for the Visionary Award from the Tim Hetherington Trust. Frontline guests will be the first to learn the identity of this year’s winner, with an opportunity to question the jurors and the artist about the forthcoming project.

This event – taking place on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the mortar attack that took the lives of Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros in Libya in 2011 – will introduce some new reflections on their lives and will offer dynamic insights into the work of a new generation of storytellers who are challenging our expectations of visual journalism in 2016.

The Tim Hetherington Trust invites you to celebrate the lives of Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros with a review of new work by friends, colleagues and others who are continuing the mission to share important stories powerfully told.

April 20th marks the fourth anniversary of the mortar attack that took Tim and Chris’ lives. Tonight’s program will demonstrate their living legacy with an array of new work that will stimulate and provoke in the style we came to expect from them. Starting with Tim’s earliest experiments in multimedia the evening will unfold to show projects recently completed and work still in progress by recognised names and emerging talent, accompanied by discussion of how to harness the media for more effective communication.

Topaz Adizes, filmmaker, will talk about some astonishing film projects that he was developing with Tim in 2011 and how his creative work has since evolved.

Paul Halliday, friend and collaborator with Tim during his time with The Big Issue and now a lecturer at Goldsmiths College, will introduce the forthcoming “Urban Encounters” festival at Tate Britain and how Tim’s work will find a place nearly 20 years on.

Geoff Johnson, artist, curator and studio partner with Tim in the 90’s will talk about “Manorism” a current exhibition of international graffiti art and will describe the discussions behind Tim’s Liberian war graffiti and its continuing relevance.

Eline Jongsma & Kel O’Neill, winners of the inaugural Visionary Award from the Tim Hetherington Trust, will talk about their practice that is evolving to include filmmaking, interactive media and virtual reality media.

Guy Martin, photographer, friend and thinker will show some current work and discuss it in the context of contemporary documentary practice. How has Tim’s thinking influenced the picture and how is it developing?

Daniel Meadows, Tim’s teacher at the Centre for Journalism Studies at Cardiff University will recount his last phone conversation with Tim which re-inspired his commitment to training and the importance of basic principles even as the industry changes.

We expect a provocative evening of images, ideas and words so please come to listen and share as we look back a their lives and forwards to what’s coming next.

Photo: Finbarr O’Reilly. Photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington works at a rally in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in Libya.