Catherine Leroy
Cathy at War

A film by Jacques Menasche | 2016

France, United States
en
en
70'

Catherine Leroy｜Cathy at War

Trailer

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Synopsis

The slender figure of no more than 1.50 m that can be seen in the photographs of that time is misleading: Catherine Leroy (1944-2006) was driven by extraordinary courage and determination. These qualities took her to the four corners of the world, where she photographed the major conflicts of her time. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal for her reportage in Lebanon in 1976, and was also one of the first photographers to cover the Vietnam War, when she was just twenty years old. Directed by American photographer Jacques Menasche, this film looks back at her reporting at the heart of this conflict that shook the world, which she lived through from 1966 to the end of 1968. As more than 400 of her photographs are shown, we hear the letters that the photographer sent to her parents, interspersed with the accounts of those who were close to her at the time.

What you will find in this film

A photographer to be rehabilitated • A female pioneer of war photography • One of the first women to photograph the Vietnam War • The first female Robert Capa Gold Medal • Making her mark in a patriarchal profession • The cover of Life magazine

Keywords

Reportage & Society Analogue Photography Masters of Photography History of Photography

Being where others are not has become a real obsession.

Catherine Leroy Photographer

At the time, there were very few women photojournalists. Catherine Leroy was undoubtedly one of the first. She didn't want to be the woman in a group of men. She wanted to be a man among men. I found that very strange. What did a woman have to do with all this bloodshed and carnage? Yes, I had a problem with that.

Don McCullin Photographer

The helicopter plunges into the jungle and lands on a tiny landing zone. I stand there for a few seconds, lost among all the men staring at me. They stare at me with a certain animosity: they don't accept me.

Catherine Leroy Photographer

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The authors/artists

Catherine Leroy

Jacques Menasche

Further exploration

Mary Cronk Farrell ; CLOSE-UP ON WAR: THE STORY OF PIONEERING PHOTOJOURNALIST CATHERINE LEROY IN VIETNAM ; Amulet Books ; 2022

Elizabeth Becker ; YOU DON’T BELONG HERE, HOW THREE WOMEN REWROTE THE STORY OF WAR ; PublicAffairs/Hachette Books Group ; 2022

UNDER FIRE, GREAT PHOTOGRAPHERS AND WRITERS IN VIETNAM ; Random House ; 2005

Catherine Leroy et Tony Clifton ; GOD CRIED ; Quartet Books ; 1983

The website of the Catherine Leroy endowment fund, which works to preserve and promote the work of Catherine Leroy

A podcast tracing Catherine Leroy's career and featuring her voice

@jacquesmenasche