Last year, Didier Rapaud, a former director of photography at Paris Match, and entrepreneur Alexandre Solacolu, invited entries to a new kind of festival – one that would commission and finance new bodies of work created specifically for the festival. Speaking to BJP about Photoreporter International Festival, Rapaud said: "It's difficult for photographers to find ways to finance their work. What we wanted to do is gather public funds with the help of private companies – and I'm not necessarily talking about large, national companies, but local small and medium-size enterprises – to help finance new projects."

With more than €150,000 raised, Photoreporter was able to finance the work of 15 photographers, whose work is now on show in Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, France. The photographers were selected by a panel of jurors that included Ruth Eichhorn of Geo Germany, Jean-François Leroy of Visa pour l'Image, and Paris Match's director of photography, Guillaume Clavieres.

The 15 exhibitions have been scattered in and around the city of Saint-Brieuc, with a programme of talks and presentations scheduled for the next two weeks. The photographers on show are Jim Brandenburg, Claudine Doury, Gwen Dubourthoumieu, Cédric Gerbehaye, Antoine Gyori, Gary Knight, Olivier Jobard, Pierre-Yves Marzin, Sonia Naudy, Zeng Nian, Pierre Terdjman, Tomas Van Houtryve, Gaël Turine and Ami Vitale.

While each photographer has been asked not to publish or present their new bodies of work before the festival, the organisers say that once Photoreporter closes on 11 November, they will retain full control over their images. The festival is already planning its second edition, with a call for entries expected by the end of the year.

BJP's Olivier Laurent will attend Photoreporter this weekend. Check back for more updates.

For more information about Photoreporter International Festival, visit www.festival-photoreporter.fr.