Corbis Announces Award of Hope Winner At 1996 Visa Pour l'Image Festival; UNICEF and Photographer Reza Share Prize

Business Wire, Sept 17, 1996

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 1996--Corbis Corp. today announced the winner of the 1996 Visa Pour l'Image Award of Hope.

The annual award, sponsored this year by Corbis, was presented last week during the Visa Pour l'Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France. The award recognizes a photograph that best symbolizes hope, an emotion sometimes forgotten in the often difficult circumstances documented in photojournalism.

This year's winning image, taken by the photographer Reza, was a picture of Rwandan refugees searching for their lost children using a "photo-tracing" program initiated by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The prize was shared between Reza, who received the Award of Hope trophy, and UNICEF, which received a $10,000 cash prize.

The photo-tracing project, initiated in fall 1995, helps reunite families separated during the civil conflict in Rwanda.

"Each time their fingers pointed to the face of a brother, a friend or a sister whom they had thought lost forever, a smile resounded," Reza said of his photograph. "I felt the same joy, not only for the recognition of my photography, but for the entire photo-tracing project."

Leading photographers and photo editors from around the world made up the seven-member jury that selected the winning image, which was presented by Corbis. In a unanimous decision, the judges split the award between the photographer and UNICEF, a step that was widely applauded by the photojournalism community.

"The jury felt strongly that the photograph by Reza captured the essence of hope," said Charles Mauzy, Corbis director of media development. "Yet it also recognized that the photograph was so compelling because of the project it portrayed. The decision to split the prize was the clear solution."

UNICEF Photo-Tracing Program

The UNICEF photo-tracing program involves taking photographs of children separated from their parents and indexing each image with identification numbers. Tents in refugee camps display the photos so parents can search for their missing children. Eleven photo-tracing centers operate in Zaire, where nearly 1 million Rwandans have sought refuge. To date, nearly 20,000 children have been photographed, and more than 2,500 children have been reunited with their families. The program is coordinated in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Photographer Reza

Reza, a native of Iran who lives in exile in Paris, has been a photographer since age 18. His interest in photography began with a desire to take photographs portraying injustice and poverty in Iran and has since taken him to many conflicts and cultures around the world. Reza's work has been recognized internationally by World Press Photo and other organizations. He has covered events such as the Iran hostage crisis and refugee efforts in Zaire and other countries. His work in Zaire began in 1989 as a volunteer for UNICEF.

Corbis is a privately held company founded in 1989 to create new ways to access images and information through digital technology. The company is building a comprehensive archive of high-quality digital imagery and creative materials that encompass science and technology, the fine arts, history, people and cultures, natural history and many other areas.

More information is available at the Corbis Web site at http://www.corbis.com/. Corbis is based in Bellevue, with offices in New York City and London.

CONTACT: Corbis Corp.

Laurie McEachron, 206/649-3363

lauriemc@corbis.com