I Didn't Know You.

Remembering Camille Lepage.

“The death of a journalist is a cruel pain, like a piece of his own flesh being ripped off.
The death of a young journalist is even more painful: it is the suffering that removed a person who had the life ahead. A life of discoveries, stories, camaraderie, commitments and loves…
The death of a young talented journalist is an injustice: what law deprives us on his look, his words, his intelligence?”

Camille Lepage, 26 year old French photojournalist, was found murdered on Tuesday, May 13th in West of the Central Africa. Lepage, who moved to the country last year to document the conflict in the region, worked as a freelancer and was on assignment when she was killed. The office of President François Hollande released a statement that read, “Everything will be done to uncover the circumstances of this assassination and to track down who murdered our compatriot.”

I’m a Sri Lankan, she was French. We have never met each other.

But as the saying goes, when death strikes; it strikes hard. Her death has influenced me to follow my path with courage and curiosity. To follow a story with my life on the edge,searching for that “extraordinary shot”. Her story has influenced me immensely and will continue to do the same for the hard years to come.

Camille Lepage, I did not know you.
But, Thank you for the inspiration, the courage and the motivation.