The Ballarat International Foto Biennale will showcase Catherine Leroy: One-Way Ticket to Vietnam 1966-1968 this August.
Catherine Leroy: One-Way Ticket to Vietnam 1966-1968 marks a significant moment for Australian photography enthusiasts, representing the world premiere exhibition of the late French photojournalist’s extraordinary work. The Ballarat International Foto Biennale has partnered with the Dotation Catherine Leroy to bring this remarkable collection to Australian audiences for the first time.
Leroy revolutionised war photography through her fearless frontline coverage during the Vietnam conflict, becoming one of the first female photographers to embed herself within combat situations. Her raw, humanising images challenged public perceptions of warfare and appeared in prestigious publications including Life magazine, Look magazine, The New York Times and Paris Match. Her influence continues to shape generations of photojournalists worldwide.
Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2025
- Ballarat Town Hall
- 23 August – 19 October 2025
- Part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale
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At just 21 years old and barely five feet tall, Leroy purchased a one-way ticket to Saigon in February 1966 with only $100 and a Leica M2 camera. In a male-dominated field, she shattered barriers by becoming the first and only accredited female civilian journalist to parachute into combat in Vietnam. Her achievements include being the first woman to win the prestigious George Polk Award in Photography and the first woman to receive the coveted Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1976 for her coverage of the Lebanese Civil War.
Her most iconic photographs include a haunting sequence of Navy medic Vernon Wilkes attending to a dying Marine, images that revealed the war’s devastating human cost. Despite being gravely wounded in action and captured by the People’s Army of Vietnam, Leroy continued her fearless documentation, including the Fall of Saigon.
The retrospective exhibition will be housed in the historic Ballarat Town Hall, presenting a curated selection of her most powerful images. Alongside the exhibition, a significant new book featuring her images, private letters and writings will launch during the October biennale, published by Atelier EXB / Éditions Xavier Barral in both French and English editions.
The exhibition receives support from the City of Ballarat and the French Embassy in Australia, with French Ambassador Pierre-André Imbert noting the timing coincides with the bicentenary of photography’s invention by French pioneer Nicéphore Niépce.
The 2025 Ballarat International Foto Biennale will also feature additional exhibitions including the Australian premiere of I ❤ Campbell by British-Ghanaian artist Campbell Addy, and the Australian exclusive Enninful x Mapplethorpe, showcasing Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs as curated by Edward Enninful OBE.
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