Getty Images staff photographer Brent Stirton has won the Visa d’Or Features Award at this week’s international photojournalism festival Visa pour l’Image. The Perpignan, France-based event is now in its 20th year.
Stirton’s “Slaughter in the Jungle,” which ran in Newsweek, documents the killing of gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The images, which demonstrate the environmental consequence of human conflict, have also won the feature photography award from the Overseas Press Club last April. Earlier this year, Stirton received World Press Photo’s first prize in Contemporary Issues Singles category.
A jury of 40 picture editors, including those of the world’s top daily newspapers, presented the shortlist of four nominees per category. A second jury voted on winners in Perpignan.
“I want to feel like I am working on issues that matter beyond the sensationalism of the 24-hour news,” writes Stirton on his Web site. He specializes in documentary work and travels an average of 10 months per year on assignment. He writes a blog for Discovery Channel and has also been published extensively and internationally, by outlets such as National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, The London Sunday Times Magazine, Le Express and others.
Stirton also works with a number of aid agencies and nonprofits, including the Global Business Coalition against AIDS, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Ford, Clinton and Nike foundations. In addition to numerous industry honors, the photographer has received awards from the United Nations for his work on the environment and HIV.