Andorran Photojournalist Salomé Escribà Shares Career Highlights and Ethical Struggles

Salomé Escribà, a veteran photojournalist from Andorra, has recounted some of the most poignant moments from her decades-long career during a recent panel discussion on women and photography at the government's exhibition hall.

Escribà, originally from the mountain village of Taús, entered the field at age 22 after studying at La Massana. With no formal experience in photojournalism, she approached the photo editor at *Diari d'Andorra* unannounced one summer, armed with a red folder of portraits she had taken of local villagers. Her determination earned her a chance, launching a career that captured key episodes in Andorran history.

One indelible memory came in January 1991, when she documented the citizen-led euphoria surrounding the self-dissolution of the General Council amid mass protests that filled the square at Casa de la Vall. As an official photographer for the co-princes, she also covered the death of Joan Martí Alanis. She was asked to photograph his body—a request she found shocking and unethical without consent. The funeral brought the career's saddest moment: watching elderly Òscar Ribas break down in tears beside the coffin. "It was deeply moving to see two such pivotal and powerful figures so vulnerable in an intimate instant," she recalled, evoking profound tenderness and empathy. "In the end, we're all human."

Escribà never felt discriminated against as a woman in the profession but highlighted the challenges of work-life balance, especially as a single parent. She once rushed to cover a road accident with her seven-year-old child in tow, relieved there were no fatalities.

Darker assignments tested her limits. Covering the collapse of the Dos Valires tunnel, she faced pressure from an agency to deliver a graphic image of a fatality—using crude terms—which she deemed morally reprehensible. Though the government tightly controlled coverage, the experience underscored the ethical tightrope of photojournalism, balancing unique access with dehumanizing demands.

She regrets missing the 1993 referendum and signing of Andorra's Constitution. Now back in Taús, Escribà has shifted to introspective projects blending narrative and illustration.