Canada is very interested in art, culture, and photography, and there are many creatives whose works annually win global and local competitions. Perhaps the latest work participated in by the documentary photographer from Quebec Province, Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, who became one of the winners of the 2024 World Press Photo contest. It is the first time in a quarter of a century that a resident of Quebec Province has won this prestigious global competition held annually.

Ouellet's lens captured in the winning photo Assistant Firefighter Théo Dagnault standing on a large rock surrounded by trees destroyed by fire, looking into the distant horizon during the wave of forest fires that swept through Quebec Province in the summer of 2023.

This black-and-white photo was selected along with 23 other photographs in the single images category for the North and Central America region.

It was also announced yesterday Thursday by the World Press Photo Foundation in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Dutch World Press Photo Foundation is the most prestigious and well-known in the field of photography for professional photographers affiliated with or working with media institutions.

This year, the foundation received nominations for the best press photo including 61,000 photos submitted by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries worldwide. The jury will reveal the full list of winners of the annual world press photography competition on April 18.

Quebec photographer Ouellet said in a press statement explaining the photo taken by his lens: “This photo resonates like a long silence, far from the human world.” Ouellet recalls that moment realizing that the human being is an integral part of the ecosystem, and that his survival depends on his understanding of nature.

Charles Frédérick Ouellet was born in Chicoutimi and works in Quebec City, the capital of the predominantly French-speaking Province of Quebec.

He is the second Quebec citizen to shine in this prestigious international contest, a quarter of a century after the name Roger Lemoyne was included in the list of winners of the best press photo award in 1999.

Lemoyne took that photo on January 1, 1998, during the funeral of Adam Niza, a 31-year-old Albanian who was shot during the Kosovo War.

It is noteworthy that the city of Montreal will again organize this summer an exhibition of press photographs awarded the 2024 World Press Photo prize.

The exhibition will also be held in the halls of Marché Bonsecours for artisans from August 28 to October 14.

In a related context, Charles Frédérick Ouellet's winning photographic image will be exhibited near his hometown in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region located in the northern inhabited part of Quebec Province, during the Zoom Photo Festival, a major press photography gathering that will be held from October 4 to 29.