"Social photography is a form of investigative and communicative photography that focuses on social issues. It is a militant form of photography whose purpose is to bear witness on behalf of victims and contribute to solving problems through direct testimony and action aimed at changing attitudes."

Michel Christolhomme, La photographie sociale, coll. Photo Poche

The Fonds de dotation Neuf Cinq - Robert Delpire & Sarah Moon announces the first edition of its grant for social photography.

It pursues Robert Delpire's commitment in this field, who, together with Michel Christolhomme, created in 1997 the Fait & Cause gallery specialized in social issues and served as its artistic director, as he did for the Agenda des Petits Frères des Pauvres between 1989 and 2002.

With a grant of € 10,000, its aim is to support a photographer working in this field, where funding is scarce. Without any specific purpose, the grant is not intended to support an exhibition or publication project, but to enable a photographer to continue their work.

Marielle and Dominique live in a cabin without water or electricity at the top of a hill. They make a living doing odd seasonal jobs and with help from various charities. Between addiction, love, and violence.
Var, 2015.
© Pierre Faure

For this first edition, the grant for social photography was unanimously awarded to Pierre Faure for his project “La France périphérique” (Peripheral France), which he began in 2015 and will continue in Occitanie.

In recognition of the remarkable quality of the projects submitted, the jury has decided to award a second support prize of € 5,000 to Sarah Leduc for her project “Tillandsias, Journeys of women in exile”.

The candidates were nominated by the jury and the Fonds de dotation Neuf Cinq: William Daniels, Marin Driguez, Grégoire Eloy, Pierre Faure, Philippe Grollier, Alexandre Larcan, Sarah Leduc, Gaël Turine, Francesco Zizola.

The jury members were Sarah Moon, Quentin Bajac, José Chidlovsky, Michel Christolhomme, Anouk Grinberg, Emmanuelle Kouchner and Natacha Wolinski.

The interest of the projects and approaches presented during this first edition reinforces our conviction of the necessity to support social photography.

The Fonds de dotation Neuf Cinq and the members of the jury pay tribute to the memory of Magali Jauffret, who passed away on June 20, 2025. A journalist at L'Humanité, she was an invaluable help during the Robert Delpire Book Prize and continued to support us in preparing this grant.