French photojournalist Catherine Leroy’s iconic photography to feature at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale

Ballarat International Foto Biennale in partnership with the Dotation Catherine Leroy is proud to announce a world premiere exhibition of the late French photojournalist Catherine Leroy’s work, titled Catherine Leroy: One-Way Ticket to Vietnam 1966-1968 from 23 August to 19 October 2025.

Renowned for her fearless frontline coverage during the war in Vietnam, Leroy was one of the first female photographers to embed herself within combat, capturing raw, humanising images that challenged public perceptions of conflict. Her work has been featured in Life magazine, Look magazine, The New York Times, and Paris Match, and continues to influence generations of photojournalists.

Robert Pledge, co-founder of the Dotation Catherine Leroy and currently a member of the board of the not-for-profit organisation, based in Paris, dedicated to her work, said many prominent photojournalists questioned why a young woman wanted to cover war.

She wrote about how people were nice when they first thought she was an unintimidating, five-foot-tall, pigtailed girl. But when they realised she was a serious photographer, their opinions changed. “Many were very, very negative and very nasty with her,” said Mr. Pledge, who is also co-founder and director of Contact Press Images.

Vanessa Gerrans, CEO of Ballarat International Foto Biennale, said this important exhibition documents Leroy’s passion and grit.

“Catherine Leroy took huge risks, capturing some of the most arresting and emotional images of the war in Vietnam.”

“To truly appreciate her courage and drive is to understand that she was entering a territory that was hostile. Women were not welcome among the Allied troops, nor were they championed by their male peers in the press corps. Leroy faced potential enemies on every front.”

At just 21 years of age, and barely five feet tall, Catherine Leroy bought a one-way ticket and arrived in Saigon in February 1966 with a hundred dollars in her pocket and a Leica M2 camera.

In a field dominated by men, she broke barriers, becoming the first and only accredited female but also civilian journalist to parachute into combat in Vietnam and first woman to win the prestigious George Polk Award in Photography for her raw, emotional images of battle. Her iconic photographs, including a haunting sequence of Navy medic Vernon Wilkes attending to a dying Marine, revealed the war’s human cost and appeared in Life magazine and across the world to critical acclaim.

Gravely wounded in action, captured by the People’s Army of Vietnam, and later documenting the Fall of Saigon at her own initiative, Leroy’s fearless storytelling reshaped war photography.

Catherine would continue to take images in war zones for Time magazine, from the late 1970s to 1986, in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Libya. In 1976, she became the first woman to receive the coveted Robert Capa Gold Medal for her coverage of the Civil War in Lebanon.

This retrospective exhibition, to be showcased in the historic Ballarat Town Hall, will present a curated selection of her most powerful images, offering an intimate look at the realities of war through the lens of a pioneering woman in photojournalism.

A significant new book featuring her images and private letters and writings will be launched during the Ballarat International Foto Biennale in October. Published in French and English editions by Atelier EXB / Éditions Xavier Barral, Paris.

The exhibition is presented with the support of the City of Ballarat and the French Embassy in Australia.

Catherine Leroy: One-Way Ticket to Vietnam 1966-1968 is a Ballarat International Foto Biennale exhibition created in partnership with Dotation Catherine Leroy.