100 photos by the VII Agency for press freedom

Reporters Without Borders is proud to open the pages of its latest “100 photos for press freedom” book to the VII Photo Agency. This fascinating collection will take the reader from Afghanistan to Russia and North Korea and is enhanced with previously unpublished pieces by French writer Philippe Labro, the legendary US investigative reporter Seymour Hersh and the Australian editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, writing from his refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Founded in New York on 9 September 2001, VII brings together photographers known for their social commitment. The seven respected photo-reporters who created this leading agency included Alexandra Boulat, Gary Knight, James Nachtwey, Christopher Morris and John Stanmeyer, winner of the 2013 World Press Photo award. VII was on the front line of coverage of the 9/11 attacks in New York. The images its photographers obtained have marked our collective memory. VII’s work often makes the cover page of leading international publications such as Time, The New York Times Magazine, Sunday Times, Paris Match, Le Monde, Géo and Stern. Ranked third in American Photo’s 100 Most Important People in Photography in 2005, VII’s photo- reporters have won 38 of the World Press Photo’s prestigious awards. Acknowledged as specialists in war photography, the agency covered the US-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and all the other major contemporary conflicts. It is now moving increasingly into new areas of work and incorporating young photographers through its internal mentoring programme. The collection of Reporters Without Borders books has been growing by three titles a year since 1992. All proceeds from the sales revert to Reporters Without Borders and are used to fund its activities. They represent more than a third of its resources. Preceded by a title dedicated to the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei and, most recently, by one dedicated to the editorial cartoonists of Cartooning for Peace, this latest book highlights Reporters Without Borders’ commitment to photojournalism more than ever.