Do WE Share?: Nicolas Repond Invites a Deeper Look at Human Dignity
At the World Grand Prix Photography Awards 2026 Autumn Season, Nicolas Repond received the Platinum Award & Photo of the Season in Documentary & People Photography for Do WE Share?. The winning work offers a distinct perspective on its subject, bringing the photographer’s individual approach to the foreground.
Together, the two images ask one question: Do WE Share?
The third image is the one we imagine.
Interview
What inspired you to take these two award-winning photos?
Both photographs belong to my documentary project Do WE Share?, based on work I carried out in Chad in 1992 and Madagascar in 1996.
Before leaving for Chad, I had already decided to document the lives of people affected by leprosy. I was also interested in the social consequences of HIV/AIDS, particularly the fear, stigma and exclusion surrounding these diseases.
In N'Djamena, the contact I had arranged through the Order of Malta was unavailable. Thanks to the Raoul Follereau organisation, a French doctor, contacts established during my previous journey in 1991 and word of mouth, I was nevertheless able to meet people and gain access to their everyday lives.
These photographs are not simply about suffering or illness. They are about human dignity, relationships and sharing.
The title Do WE Share? raises two questions. Are we willing to share what we have with others? And are we capable of imagining ourselves in their place, sharing, even for a moment, the reality of their lives?
Were there any unexpected creative or technical hurdles during the making of this work, and how did you overcome them?
The greatest challenge was not primarily technical. It was gaining access to people's lives and establishing relationships based on trust.
In Chad, my initial contact was unavailable, so I had to find other ways of reaching the people I wanted to photograph. Personal encounters, local contacts and the help of people working in the field became essential.
Photographing people affected by leprosy also required sensitivity. I did not want to reduce anyone to a disease or a physical condition. Each person had a life, a personality and a dignity that deserved to be respected.
For me, documentary photography requires patience, observation and the ability to adapt to what is actually happening rather than trying to impose a preconceived image.
How do you approach the balance between technical skill and emotional/artistic expression in your photography?
Technical mastery is important, but it should never become the purpose of a photograph. It is a means of expressing what we see, understand and feel.
My approach begins with observation, curiosity and attention to people. I try to understand a situation before photographing it. Light, composition and timing are essential, but they must serve the subject rather than dominate it.
I also believe that a photograph contains more than what is immediately visible. There is what the photographer sees, what the photograph shows, and what the viewer experiences when looking at it.
This is what I call the third image. It does not exist on the photograph itself. It is born in the consciousness of the person looking at it.
In today’s world, what role do you believe humanitarian and documentary photography plays in inspiring empathy or awareness?
Documentary photography can bring us closer to realities we might otherwise never encounter. It can make us aware of other people's lives, their difficulties, their dignity and what we have in common.
However, I do not believe that a photograph automatically creates empathy. Every viewer brings their own experiences, memories and sensitivity to an image.
A photograph may raise questions, challenge assumptions or change the way we perceive someone. Its meaning does not belong exclusively to the photographer.
With Do WE Share?, I wanted to invite viewers to go beyond appearances and ask themselves a simple question: what if I were in this person's place?
Photography cannot answer that question for us. But it can encourage us to consider it.
Editor’s Note
Do WE Share? is anchored in an ethical question rather than a claim that a photograph can speak for another person's experience. The pairing of images encourages viewers to consider what documentary photography reveals and what remains beyond the frame.
Repond's idea of a 'third image'—formed in the viewer's consciousness—offers a compelling account of how photographs continue to acquire meaning after they are made. The work's emphasis on dignity resists the simplification of people into subjects of suffering.
About the Photographer
Nicolas Repond was born in 1958 in Bulle, Switzerland, where he continues to work as an independent photographer. Active in photojournalism since 1987, he has devoted nearly four decades to documenting people, their lives, their activities and their environment.
His documentary assignments have taken him to Chad and Madagascar, where he produced socio-political reports as well as reports on people affected by leprosy. His work has also taken him to the Swiss Prealps, where he has explored alpine farming, traditional cheesemaking, rural life and the transmission of local heritage.
His photographic work has been exhibited and published in Switzerland, France, Germany and the United States. He received an award at the Rencontres d'Arles in 1992, as well as several distinctions in the Swiss Press Photo competition.
His photographs and reports have appeared in the Swiss press, notably in Le Temps, Le Nouveau Quotidien, La Gruyère and La Liberté, as well as in photographic and cultural magazines such as Chasseur d'Images and L'Alpe. His work has also contributed to several books, including L'Âme du Gruyère, Suisse, pays de cultures, Lieux saints en Suisse, Mémoires migrantes, La fête de la Poya and La crème double, du chalet au palais.
In recent years, his curiosity has increasingly turned towards the natural world, particularly insects, animals, trees and the extraordinary details of everyday life. His photographic explorations of a sycamore maple tree reflect this attention to shapes, light, textures and the often-overlooked beauty of nature.
Across these different subjects, his approach remains grounded in curiosity, human sensitivity, observation and the conviction that photography can reveal far more than what is immediately visible.
Website: www.nicolasrepond.ch
About the World Grand Prix Photography Awards
The World Grand Prix Photography Awards (WGPPA) is an international photography competition recognising creative achievement across photographic disciplines. Its winning works and selected editorial interviews, published through WODACC, offer photographers opportunities to present both their images and the ideas behind them to a wider audience. For emerging and established photographers considering international awards, these published winner stories provide concrete examples of how creative work can be showcased beyond the award announcement.
Explore the World Grand Prix Photography Awards: https://www.wgppa.com/
Follow Nicolas Repond
Website: www.nicolasrepond.ch
