Journalism is often a friendless pursuit. When done badly, it hurts and offends and very occasionally damages. When done well, it enhances life and democracy. As with most human endeavour, it draws much more attention when done badly; often enough when done well, it has to be done in situations of great danger.
The forces of authority, emboldened by the harsh climate created by the Leveson inquiry (and, of course, excess of the media, by which I - unlike, for example, Hacked Off - mean electronic media, too), are currently making it as hard as they can for the trade to be practised in the UK. But these are pinpricks; much worse things happen elsewhere.
Camille Lepage did photo-journalism exceptionally well. She chose to travel from the comforts of Europe to Africa, to follow her passion for photography, and for humanity, in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
And at just 26 in the Boar region of the CAR, she has now been killed, in circumstances still to be properly explained, while embedded with anti-balaka (anti-machete) militia. French troops found her body.
UK Press Gazette says Lepage, a native of the French city of Angers, had studied in the UK, at Solent University. Her outstanding work had been published by The Guardian, The Sunday Times, the BBC, The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Al Jazeera. The UK Press Gazette link includes examples of her photography.
That work will be remembered, as will Lepage. I salute her.
The photograph is taken, I hope without objection, from the clip for Eyes in Progress at http://vimeo.com/70283422 in which she speaks about her work.
Tehri Humbert, commenting on that video, posted the following words, referring to an interview I also heard a little of: "I just cried this morning, when listening her mother telling she's waiting for her daughter... her body. She said also that in December, Camille saw really hard and inhuman things... surely too inhuman for her young age. I feel really sad... I think of you, Camille... a lot... and to your mother also."
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