Guerchom Ndebo

Artist, Photographer and filmmaker, passionate about image, Guerchom Ndebo uses photography to communicate his concerns on complex subjects and to stimulate reflection on contemporary issues. At the heart of his artistic approach, the concepts of equality, cultural differences, solidarity and decadence collide.

Driven by the desire to tell the stories that surround him, he immersed himself in photography. With a university degree in communication, he sought to train himself in photography to try to learn more and improve his artistic approach. Participating in the Congo in Conversation project by Finbarr O'Reilly and the Carmignac Foundation was for him a gateway to photojournalism, with the other photographers of the project, he improved the quality of telling a story in images.

One of his first published subjects was on charcoal "Makala". "A large part of my city uses charcoal which has a major effect on the environment because it comes directly from the exploitation of wood from the Virunga National Park. For me it was important to tell this story to show what is happening in my region, but it was not easy to make the photo report because of the presence of armed groups that occupy the forests and are the first producers of charcoal."

After the Congo in Conversation exhibition in Paris, he was contacted by Getty Images and he started covering the news of eastern Congo as an independent contributor. One of the first stories he covered was the assassination of the Italian ambassador in February 2021.

In May 2021, he covered the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano for Agence France-Presse and his work was published worldwide, including in the New York Times, CNN, RFI, USA Today, The IrishTimes and on the front page of the Canadian daily The Globe and Mail. In the weeks following the eruption, he continued to work on regular assignments for AFP and on commissions from several NGOs and UN agencies.

He also won the LensCulture Critic's Choice Award, the Albert Kahn Avenir Photo Canon Award in 2021, the Photo Story Emerging Talent Award at the Wildscreen Festival 2022 , NEWF Fellow and the National Geographic Explorer's Grant 2023.

I continue to work in close collaboration with Finbarr O'Reilly on upcoming stories and projects.

Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly - Goma-Congo DR, 2020