In 2009, while media and photojournalism faced an unprecedented crisis, Edouard Carmignac created the Carmignac Photojournalism Award to support photographers in the field.

Directed by Emeric Glayse, it funds annually the production of an investigative photo reportage on human rights violations, geostrategic issues in the world. 

Selected by an international jury, the laureates receive a €50,000 grant to carry out a 6-month field report with the support of the Fondation Carmignac, which produces, upon their return, a travelling exhibition and the publication of a monograph. At the end of each edition, four photographs bequeathed by the laureates are included in the Carmignac collection.

In 2015, the Carmignac Photojournalism Award turned into a real“newsroom”. This major development allowed Narciso Contreras, 7th laureate, to return with the very first evidence of migrant slavery in Libya – a report that was first published in Paris Match and Time in October 2016. In addition, the Carmignac Award, from the formation of its juries to the accompaniment of its laureate in the field, surrounds itself with specialists in the region who understand the geopolitical, social and environmental issues at stake. 

With the development of partnerships with major European museums – Saatchi Gallery in London, Palazzo Reale in Milan, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Cité des sciences et de l’industrie in Paris, Maison Européenne de la Photographie and gates of Paris city hall — the Award exhibition attracted over 500,000 visitors in 2017.