Following a decade of reporting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Andrea Bruce has turned her lens to her home in Pamlico County, North Carolina, to reinvigorate local civic engagement and connection by launching a visual journalism publication that highlights the everyday experiences of rural communities. Hear insights from Bruce about the importance of community narratives in shaping democratic discourse in one of the US’s most embattled battleground states — three years after she launched her publication, a month after a devastating hurricane hit the state, and just days after a contentious presidential election.

Photographer Amandine Lauriol, from Hans Lucas Agency, documented Marzieh, a 21-year-old Afghan refugee who, after fleeing the Taliban's takeover in 2021, continues her fight for women's rights from France. Marzieh is also a member of both the French Taekwondo team and the Olympic Refugee Team. Presented as part of Dysturb’s #Championnes project, a free multimedia initiative for female photojournalists, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture - Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (DRAC) and the ITEM collective of photographers.

Photographers Tshepiso Mazibuko and Sibusiso Bheka belong to South Africa’s so-called “born free” generation, a term for Black youth born after the country’s first non-racial democratic elections in 1994, after the fall of apartheid. Their exhibition “Ubusukunemini (Day and Night),” featured in PhotoSaintGermain, is a portrait of Thokoza, the township where they were born and raised, exploring the community via its present, its history, and its memory. With intertwining sensibilities, they take the pulse of the nascent democracy, questioning what it means to be “born free.”

Photographers Tanya Habjouqa (Occupied Pleasures, Birds Unaccustomed to Gravity) and Anastasia Taylor-Lind (5k from the Frontline, CatchLight Global Fellow) bring new perspectives to conflict photography by centering ongoing civilian life in war zones. Their conversation explores long-form storytelling, the importance of local voices, disrupting stereotypes, and how their years-long projects document moments of resilience and normalcy in heavily photographed conflict regions.

Photojournalist Kiana Hayeri and researcher Mélissa Cornet provide a powerful look into the condition of women and girls in Afghanistan through their report, 'No Woman’s Land' produced with the support of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award. Over six months, they traveled to seven provinces to document the effects of Taliban rule on women and girls, capturing stories of those denied basic rights, including access to education, work, and public spaces. Through photography, video, and collaborative art with Afghan teenage girls, Kiana and Mélissa reveal both the deep oppression and the resilience of Afghan women. Their discussion will explore the challenges of documenting these realities and the broader impact on women’s rights under oppressive regimes.