Starting April 28 and until July 31, 2022, these carefully selected AFP photos will be on display at three Alliance Française Hong Kong centers (Wan Chai, Jordan, and Shatin) and online at the artplacer virtual gallery.

The sands of society are shifting on an almost daily basis, the ‘traditional’ French way of life appears to be on the way out. Things that used to define France appear to have gone: the welfare state is losing steam, industry and agriculture are both suffering. The far-right claims that the country isn’t French enough and has become too multicultural. Even debating the place of Islam has become a dangerous no-go zone. France, it seems, is going through “a crise d’identité” -- an identity crisis.

Kohsar was awarded the “Varenne National award for an international topic” for his emblematic picture showing a US soldier pointing his gun toward an Afghan passenger at the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the Taliban rule.

Belgrade-based photographer Andrej Isakovic won the first prize in the “Single Sports” category for his image of the moment when Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen collided during the Italian Formula One Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale circuit in Monza, September 12, 2021.