Jean-Christian Bourcart joins a long list of photographers to have won the prestigious Prix Nadar, now in its 33th edition. Previous winners include Henri Cartier-Bresson (1971), André Kertész (1973), Richard Avedon (1979), Willy Ronis (1981), Irving Penn (1991), Larry Burrows (2002), Larry Towell (2005) and Sarah Moon (2008) among many others.

Bourcart wins for his book Camden, which documents the lives of the city's inhabitants in New Jersey. "I decided to go to Camden when I felt a need to come back to some form of reportage," the photographer tells BJP. "I needed to be closer to reality, closer to everyday's life. I was also questioning myself on the motives of photojournalists who travel to a place and 'coldly' reports on what he or she sees."

As a result, says Bourcart, he wanted people to feel his presence. "I didn't want to pretend that I was telling other people's stories, instead, I wanted to portray my own relationships with others."

Bourcart chose Camden after he searched online for the most dangerous city in the USA. He spent two years there, "developing a sort of fondness for the city and its inhabitants. I think the book's success comes from the fact that this representation isn't sordid or dramatic. Instead, it's allowing us to meet real people that we can care about."

"It's an honour to share this prize with so many great names in photography," says Bourcart of the Prix Nadar. "But I'm also delighted that a book, in which the text is at important as the photographs, has been recognised. It confirms my view that photography, when brought together with other media, can see its ability to arouse one's imagination increase exponentially."

For more details, visit jcbourcart.com.