Jean-Marc Giboux’s photographs capture the 18-year journey documenting the global race to end polio through immunization – the unprecedented public health initiative and worldwide effort to eradicate the deadly virus.
Join us in celebrating the journey towards health, progress, and the promise of a brighter, polio-free future. A special thanks to our sponsor Rotary International.
Exhibition: April 12th - May 29th 2024 Opening Night: April 12th from 6pm-9pm Artist Talk: April 18th 7pm-9pm
CHASING POLIO Poliomyelitis, commonly known as polio, is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease primarily affecting children under the age of five.
In 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global initiative to eradicate polio, recognizing the feasibility of eradication through effective vaccination efforts. At the time, there were 350,000 polio cases worldwide every year.
Unfortunately, the countries where polio persisted were some of the world's poorest, where populations at risk are unable to access basic health services due to isolation, neglect or conflict.Stirred by this resolution to create a polio-free world, Photographer Jean-Marc Giboux embarked on a mission to document the efforts, supported by an early grant from The Rotary Foundation. His work, initially featured in Life Magazine, continued in collaboration with WHO, Rotary International, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Spanning 17 polio-affected countries, Giboux's poignant imagery highlights the dedication of thousands of volunteers and health workers in reaching all the world's vulnerable children with the polio vaccine, and the challenges of setting up stalls along busy urban roads, traveling to remote mountainsides, refugee camps, and negotiating civil strife.These photographs serve as a powerful testament to one of the largest public health endeavors in history, showcasing both the progress made and the challenges yet to overcome in the fight against polio.
About Jean-Marc Giboux Born and raised near Paris, France, Jean-Marc Giboux’s photography career started in Los Angeles covering news, social issues and cultural trends for US and European publications. His work has been widely published by magazines worldwide, and exhibited in Museums and Art Galleries :
- JMG’s ten-year long Photographic coverage of the worldwide drive to eradicate Polio was exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
- His photography exhibit “Sacred Waters” was inaugurated at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, a photographic documentary on the largest pilgrimage on the planet, 12 years in the making.
Giboux is currently based in Chicago and shoots features and portraiture for editorial and corporate clients, complementing his passion for long form documentaries with video recording and editing.
