Catherine Leroy

British soldier, Belfast, 1979

About the Artist:

Catherine Leroy (1944-2006) was a renowned French war photographer. In 1966, aged just 21, she left her native France to cover the Vietnam War. Self-taught, she became the first woman and non-military photographer to parachute into combat with the US Marines. When captured by North Vietnamese forces, she turned her experience into a cover story for Life magazine. Leroy’s career spans the major conflicts of her time, in Vietnam, Cyprus, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Libya – and Northern Ireland. She was the first woman awarded the George Polk for her photography of the Vietnam War in 1967, and the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her coverage of the Civil War in Lebanon in 1976. Leroy published one book of her own photographs, God Cried, on the civil war in Lebanon (1983). She also edited a collective book: Under Fire: Great Photographers and Writers in Vietnam. She is the subject of two recent books: You Don’t Belong Here, by Elizabeth Becker, and Close-Up on War: The Story of Pioneering Photojournalist Catherine Leroy in Vietnam by Mary Cronk Farrell. The Dotation Catherine Leroy, a non-profit organisation, founded in 2011, is now preserving her archive and promoting her contributions to the history of photography.

https://dotationcatherineleroy.org/en/

About the Exhibition:

PROTEST! looks at the vital role photography has played in recording and making visible the struggle for equality, diversity and inclusion in Ireland. Over recent decades we have witnessed unprecedented change with systemic inequalities challenged and, in some cases, overcome. This social revolution has encompassed a broad spectrum of local and national issues, from civil rights, political struggle and conflict, women's rights, LGBTQIA+, institutional abuse, social and economic issues, Travellers’ rights, through to international movements for change, including anti-war, climate change, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo.