DÉFENSE ZONE
Défense Zone is a magazine designed to inform you and help you better understand defence and security issues in France and around the world.
Défense Zone also pays particular attention to images. For all our publications, we take care to find the best photos and so showcase the work of photographers. The “Zone image” section is there for that. In this new issue, the DZ team has chosen to present the photos of the winners of the French Army’s “Sergent Sébastien Vermeille” photography prize, awarded a few weeks ago in Paris in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the French Army.
In memoriam
On 13 July 2011, in Afghanistan, Sergeant Sébastien Vermeille, a photographer with SIRPA-Terre, was killed in a suicide attack alongside four other French soldiers. Created two years later, the Vermeille prize rewards each year professional photographers, military or civilian, whose work highlights the commitment of French Army personnel in the service of France.
Awarded by a jury of professionals including photojournalists, heads of agencies and magazines, and manufacturers, it is also reinforced by the head of the French Army’s communication service, the director of ECPA-D, the head of armed forces communication and the winners of the previous edition, all chaired by the Chief of Staff of the French Army and Sergeant Vermeille’s widow.
Three prizes are awarded
- The single photo prize: only one image per photographer is submitted to the jury
- The photo story prize: the author must provide between 15 and 20 images on a subject of their choice
- The partner’s prize: Canon France© chooses a single photo from among the entries for the single photo prize
Single photo prize
“Tenderness”
Sylvia Borel / Paris Fire Brigade
At around 4.30 p.m., the firefighters were called to a violent flat fire on the Île Saint-Denis. Numerous rescues were carried out immediately. The building was engulfed in flames. A mother and her child, both burned, were pulled from the blaze. Separated from each other, the mother reassured her little one in a motherly voice with these words of love: “darling, it’s going to be all right”. The child kept screaming in the arms of his rescuer, who carried him to the forward medical post. At that moment, when nothing seemed to calm him, the little boy reached out and clung tightly to the neck of this young woman firefighter, with whom he found the comfort he needed. The toll was three injured, including this little child.
Photo story prize
Scorpion II special forces training course
Brigadier-chef de 1re classe (senior corporal) Nicolas D. / French Army Special Forces Command
This photo story was produced during a hardening course in an arid environment for future team members of the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment. This exercise in Djibouti comes after more than a year of non-stop training in which only ten of the 50 initial candidates made it to the end of the course. In this image, the young commandos are learning to handle and use several types of explosives.
To document the training, I was embedded with the trainees for several weeks. Conditions are particularly tough. Djibouti is known for its extreme heat, sand that gets absolutely everywhere and terrain so rough that it can wear out a boot sole in a few days. With very little rest, by day and by night, the soldiers alternate between shooting sessions, combat, rope work, first aid and survival lessons. Like them, I have to be self-sufficient in water, food and technical equipment. My pack weighs around 40 kg, but it is the only way to get as close as possible to the subject and to share and understand what the commandos are going through.
Partner’s prize
“The final exchange”
Corporal Cyrille Nicolas / Paris Fire Brigade
It is 10 hours 28 minutes and 01 second when the firefighters are dispatched to a violent building fire in the heart of the capital. Considerable resources are deployed; the flow of calls reflects the growing threat of the blaze. When the rescuers arrive, one floor is completely engulfed in flames. The strategy takes shape; the orders to tame the enemy are simple, precise and concise. A massive attack is ordered to overcome this hostile environment. The intensity of the exchanges between these firefighters reflects how dangerous the atmosphere is. The instructions are given and the last words spoken before going in are: “Come back in one piece”.
In magazine issue 4, Défense Zone devoted its portfolio to the work of Édouard Elias, a French photojournalist and former winner of the Sergent Sébastien Vermeille prize for his work on the French Foreign Legion in the Central African Republic during Operation Sangaris.
You can find the full Zone Image section in issue 7 of Défense Zone
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