Enduring Images

Corentin Fohlen travelled to Chad on assignment for the UN Refugee Agency to capture images of the situation of the civil war refugees. His ­photographic reportage leads viewers to an awareness beyond the brief transience of an event – beyond the fixed and finite moment. The French ­photographer believes that powerful images “make up the world’s memory.”

“I left for Chad in May 2014 on a two-week reportage assignment for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It is the first time I’ve been commissioned by a United Nations NGO. The purpose of the trip is to document the consequences of the cutbacks of UNHCR aid. These cutbacks have a direct impact on the refugee camps located in Chad. Areas of conflict surround the country. The refugee camps in the south are occupied mainly by people from the Central African Republic. In the east, it’s the people from Darfur who are looking for safety. My pictures are intended to convince funders of the urgency to continue sending provisions to the Chad refugees. For myself, the approach to telling their story is the same as when I’m working for a magazine: to inform, to document, and to emphasize. Each new story is a challenge, but I’m used to travelling, to adapting to a given situation and to improvising. Once I have arrived somewhere, the way I work is very instinctual.”

See the reportage in M Magazine No. 4.