In the 1960s and ‘70s, the intrepid young French woman chose to travel the world to photograph the major conflicts of her day, from Vietnam to Africa, to the Middle East. In February 1966, she flew from Paris to Vientiane, the capital of Laos and on to Saigon. At just 21 years of age and barely five feet tall, Catherine Leroy bought a one-way ticket and arrived with a hundred dollars in her pocket and a Leica M2 camera.

Catherine’s work shows the emotion and humanity of both the troops and the Vietnamese people alike. In a field dominated by men she broke barriers, becoming the first and only accredited female and civilian journalist to parachute into combat in Vietnam. She was the first woman to win the prestigious George Polk Award in News Photography for her raw, emotional images of battle.

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 ever to receive the coveted Robert Capa Gold Medal for her coverage of the Civil War in Lebanon.

Presented in partnership with Dotation Catherine Leroy.

Proudly supported by The City of Ballarat; the Embassy of France in Australia; and ILFORD.

Special thanks to RMIT University; Atelier EXB / Éditions Xavier Barral, Paris; Robert Pledge and Dominique Deschavanne; Scott Fredericks, Abe Hutchinson and Tamela McMahon; Pollyanna Sutton.

Exhibition graphics © Atelier EXB / Elisabeth Welter.

Main image:
Catherine Leroy training on 21 February 1967, jumping with the 173rd Airborne on the eve of Operation Junction City. © Bob Cole. Courtesy Dotation Catherine Leroy.

Image carousel:
Vietnam War, Operation Austin, Cambodian border, May 1966. © Dotation Catherine Leroy; Fall of Saigon. Civilians Fleeing. April 29, 1975 © Dotation Catherine Leroy; “Vietcong suspects” before interrogation, Mekong Delta, 1966. © Dotation Catherine Leroy; Liberation of Saigon. North Vietnamese soldiers. April 30, 1975 © Dotation Catherine Leroy.