Rémi Ochlik (16 October 1983 – 22 February 2012) was a French photojournalist who was known for his photographs of war and conflict in Haiti and the Arab Spring revolutions. Ochlik died in the
February 2012 bombardment of Homs
The 2012 Homs offensive was a Syrian Army offensive on the armed rebellion stronghold of Homs, within the scope of the Siege of Homs, beginning in early February 2012 and ending with the U.N. brokered cease fire on 14 April 2012.
The offensiv ...
during the
2011–2012 Syrian uprising along with veteran war correspondent
Marie Colvin.
Biography
Rémi Ochlik was born in 1983 in
Thionville and lived in the area around
Florange,
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
, in
the Lorraine region of northeastern France.
As a child he had ambitions of becoming an archaeologist, but after he was given an
Olympus OM1 camera by his grandfather, Ochlik gravitated toward his interest in photography.
After completing school at Marcel-Pagnol in Serémange-Erzange and private high school of Saint-Pierre Chanel in Thionville, Ochlik studied photography at the Icart Photo School in Paris.
Career
Rémi Ochlik began working for photography agency Wostok in September 2002 where he initially began photographing demonstrations.
After leaving Wostok in 2005, Ochlik founded the Parisian photographic agency, IP3 Press, and for the first time was able to get a French press card.
For IP3, Ochlik covered the French presidential campaign of 2007, photographing
François Bayrou
François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...
,
Ségolène Royal and
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.
Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Sei ...
amongst others.
He covered the
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
in 2008.
His photographs appeared in numerous notable magazines, such as ''
Choc'', ''
NVD'', ''
Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'', ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French Newspaper of recor ...
'', ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', and ''
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features.
History and profile
A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigean ...
''.
Ochlik's friends and colleagues curated his photographic work that documented the Arab Spring revolutions and posthumously published it in 2012 as ''Révolutions, du rêve au printemps de Rémi Ochlik''.
Notable photojournalism assignments
Haiti
Ochlik's breakthrough came after he documented riot scenes in Haiti in 2004 during the Presidential elections.
He has said about Haiti:
It was my war, I thought. When I saw what was going on in Haiti, I immediately asked myself what I was doing there. Guys with guns were taking me around on motorbikes. I could sense the danger, but it was where I always dreamt to be, in the action.
His photos were purchased by ''Choc'' magazine for 2,000 euros. His photographs of the riot scenes won the
François Chalais Award
François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis.
People with the given name
* Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters"
* Francis II of France, King ...
for Young Reporters and was projected at the Visa pour l’Image International Photojournalism Festival.
He later returned to Haiti again in 2010 for IP3 to photograph the
2010–2011 Haiti cholera outbreak
The 2010s Haiti cholera outbreak is the first modern large-scale outbreak of cholera—a disease once considered beaten back largely due to the invention of modern sanitation. The disease was reintroduced to Haiti in October 2010, not long after ...
.
Arab Spring revolutions
Ochlik was best known for his images of the
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econom ...
revolutions of 2011 and 2012, photographing
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
, and
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...
in 2011. In 2011, Ochlik's three pictures of the Arab Spring, "The Fall of Tripoli", "Egypt Tahrir Square" and "The Jasmine Revolution" received the Grand Prix Jean-Louis Calderon and he also won the first prize in the 2012
World Press Photo contest for his photograph of a Libyan rebel fighter.
Guillaume Clavières, senior photo editor at ''Paris Match'' said of him:
Rémi is one of the most talented young photographers of his generation. Motivated, enthusiastic, curious and brilliant. He is capable of going from one difficult news topic to another less dramatic subject with the same photographic quality. The future is his."
Syria
In 2012, he photographed scenes from the
Syrian civil war. He and fellow journalist
Marie Colvin were killed in the
Baba Amr area of
Homs during heavy shelling when a rocket struck the house they were using as their
media centre.
Injured journalists from that same attack were William Daniels, Paul Conroy, and Edith Bouvier.

Photojournalist William Daniels was able to recover photographs from Rémi Ochlik's camera that was found in the ruins of the rocket attack. Three of those images were edited for the Ochlik's posthumously published book, ''Revolutions''. Among them were a photograph of men at a funeral and a man alone in the dark with his weapon.
Reactions to Ochlik's work
Jean-François Leroy, Visa pour l'Image festival, about the photos he had seen from 2004:
Someone showed me this work on the events in Haiti. It was very beautiful, very strong. I didn't know the guy who'd done it. I asked him to come in. He's called Rémi Ochlik, he's 20. He worked all alone, like a big guy. There you go. Photojournalism is not dead.
Guillaume Clavières, senior photo editor with ''Paris Match'', quoted over two months before Ochlik was killed:
Rémi is one of the most talented young photographers of his generation. Motivated, enthusiastic, curious and brilliant. He is capable of going from one difficult news topic to another less dramatic subject with the same photographic quality. The future is his.
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle f ...
, who was then the Socialist party presidential candidate in France:
This death touches me even more because Rémi Ochlik was accredited to over
Over may refer to:
Places
*Over, Cambridgeshire, England
*Over, Cheshire, England
*Over, South Gloucestershire, England
*Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England
**Over Bridge
*Over, Seevetal, Germany
Music
Albums
* ''Over'' (album), by Pete ...
my campaign and was among us a few days ago.
Sponsors of the City of Perpignan Rémi Ochlik Award on renaming the award after Ochlik:
For us, the concept of a young photographer – a talented young photographer – was synonymous with the name of Rémi Ochlik.
Karim Ben Khelifa, a friend, photojournalist and curator for Ochlik's posthumous book ''Revolutions'':
Art is something that is perceived by the others. It depends on your own motivation. I would never assume that Rémi would think of himself as an artist. He was a journalist, he was a witness. Now, if people decide to look at it and find art, and find emotions and classify it this way, it belongs to the people. It doesn’t belong to him.
émi Ochliktagged along that story rab Spring revolutionsand stuck to it in a very beautiful way. He was with the people. He was feeling their aspiration. He has been through you know, a tremendous experience and huge amount of danger, but he stuck to that story because he wanted to tell the story of those people ... and paid the dearest price, his life.
Stan Trecker, dean of The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University:
His courage and intelligence resulted in compelling documentation of his experience during the Arab Spring. The photographs portray the complexities of the political and social realities for those living in the Middle East, most especially Egypt, Libya, and Syria.
Rémi Ochlik, as quoted in ''The Guardian'' (U.K.):
I expected to see horrible things. Yes, I was afraid.
"A Love Letter from Emilie Blachère to Rémi Ochlik" (Poem)
On the first anniversary of Rémi Ochlik's death, his partner Emilie Blachère, who is a journalist for ''
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features.
History and profile
A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigean ...
'', read a poem
she had written about her relationship with Rémi Ochlik on
Radio 4's ''
Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The m ...
'', a popular news program. The radio host
Paddy O'Connell
Guy Patrick O'Connell (born 11 March 1966 in Guildford, Surrey) is an English television and radio presenter, working mainly for the BBC. He presents BBC Radio 4's '' Broadcasting House'' programme each Sunday morning. He is also an occasion ...
was so moved by her poem that he could not continue to broadcast, and Radio 4 had around 12 seconds of dead air. Her poem is written as both a letter and a list about the personal qualities Blachère loved most about her partner. She includes many personal connections with Ochlik. The poem alludes to his many international assignments. Her poem includes a quotation of Ochlik's favorite movie,
Singing in the Rain
''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charisse ...
(1952). The published, printed poem (a variation on her reading on BBC) also references ''L'amour est dans le pré'' (the French version of
Farmer Wants a Wife),
Dexter (TV series), and
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students a ...
. At the end of her printed poem, Blachère acknowledges another fallen journalist and a colleague and friend of Ochlik,
Lucas Dolega
Lucas Dolega (19 August 1978 – 17 January 2011), born Loucas von Zabiensky-Mebrouk and also called Lucas Mebrouk Dolega, was a French/German photojournalist. He was reportedly killed by Tunisian police while he was photographing a protest in Tun ...
. Dolega was the first journalist to have died in the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia. She ends her poem: "My angel, give Lucas a kiss for me. Take care of yourself. Take care of us."
She recently participated in "A Day Without News?", a demonstration of the importance of journalists that promotes an awareness of the dangers journalists face.
Rémi Ochlik Prize
Friends championed the renaming of the City of Perpignan Young Reporter Award (Le Prix du jeune reporter de la ville de Perpignan) to the Rémi Ochlik Prize (Prix Rémi Ochlik).
The first presentation of the renamed Olchik Prize was at the Visa pour l’Image festival in 2012.
* 2012 : Sebastián Liste, ''Getty Images'', a 27-year-old photographer from Uruguay who was awarded for his work ''Urban Quilombo'', which is about the citizens of
Quilombo,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, whom he had photographed from 2009 to 2011.
Awards
*
Francois Chalais Award for Young Reporters, 2004, for his photojournalism while covering the Haitian coup d'état.
* Jean-Louis Calderon Grand prize, 2011, for "The Fall of Tripoli", "Egypt Tahir Square" and "The Jasmine Revolution".
*
World Press Photo, 2012, for his ''General News'' photo story called "Battle for Libya"
Exhibits
''Hommage à Rémi Ochlik'' ('Homage to Rémi Ochlik'), La Médiathèque de Florange, France, 2012
''Revolutions: Photographs of the Arab Spring'', Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, Boston, USA, 2013.
See also
*
List of journalists killed during the Syrian Civil War
The journalists killed during the Syrian Civil War refers to the foreign war correspondents, Syrian professional journalists (including those who work for pro-government media outlets), and Syrian citizen journalists (including those who work for ...
*
List of photojournalists
References
External links
IP3 Press siteRémi Ochlik's IP3 GalleryLa Médiathèque de Florange exhibitRemi Ochlick – Picture of the year 2012 / Le Journal de la Photographie.com''Revolutions'', 2012 posthumous photo book of Rémi OchlikA Love Letter from Emilie Blachère to Rémi Ochlik (print)A Love Letter from Emilie Blachère to Rémi Ochlik (reading)Icart Photo SchoolOchlik's Photoshelter Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochlik, Remi
1983 births
2012 deaths
People from Thionville
French photographers
French photojournalists
War photographers killed while covering the Syrian civil war
Paris Match photojournalists