Javier Fergo 1980 – 2022

By Emilio Morenatti | Sept. 13, 2022

Ryszard Kapuscinski once said, “To be a good journalist, you have to be also a good person.”

That sentence perfectly defines Javier Fergo, who was indeed a good person and a great photojournalist as well.

Born in Jerez de La Frontera, Cadiz, in 1980, Javier Fernandez Gonzalez, known as Javier Fergo, left his native Spain to study photography in the United Kingdom. Upon returning in 2005, he started collaborating with local newspapers.

We first met in 2018, when we were both covering a route used by north African migrants trying to reach Europe through Spain, I was immediately captivated by his voice and his coolness. He soon began regularly contributing to the AP in southern Spain, covering breaking news and pitching good stories from the south of Spain and north Africa.

His work focused mostly on migration and social issues affecting the most vulnerable people. I noticed his pictures getting better, gaining “body and soul” on each story I edited. His thinking behind his work was always resounding and generous.

“Our work depends on the people we photograph, like a collective work,” he told me once as we photographed exhausted African migrants, survivors of a capsized boat off the coast of Algeciras, Spain while trying to reach Europe.

“We have to be grateful to them for letting us take their picture.”

Death, always unfair and sometimes untimely, can also disrupt someone’s best moment. At 42, he was about to marry his longtime partner Tere. It also interrupted an admirable professional career that was just starting to get well deserved attention outside Spain. He recently won a British Journalism Award for photojournalism.

We now mourn a great photojournalist who illuminated current events with great sensitivity and intelligence. I will always admire him and will guard a place for him in my heart. 

Migrants sail on a rubber dinghy after Spanish NGO Pro activa Open Arms spotted and rescued them at Alboran Sea, about 40 miles (64 kms) from the Spanish coasts, Oct. 11 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A father cries as he holds his son's head on a rescue boat from the Spanish NGO Pro activa Open Arms after being spotted and rescued them at Alboran Sea, about 40 miles (64 kms) from the Spanish coasts, Oct. 11 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Migrants read a book about Europe on the deck of the Open Arms vessel after been rescued by the Spanish NGO Pro Activa Open Arms, about 40 miles (64 kms) from the Spanish coasts, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Lightning strikes ground on the outskirts of the village of Campillos, Spain, where heavy rain and floods caused much damage and the death of a firefighter according to Spanish authorities, Oct. 21 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A dead body washed ashore by sea can be seen on the beach at the village of Canos de Meca where seven bodies were recovered from the sea after their precarious vessel impacted rocks while trying to reach Spanish coasts, Nov. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Kate Abrahams, originally from Belgium, places flowers next to the body of a dead migrant on the beach at the village of Canos de Meca, where seventeen bodies were recovered from the sea after their precarious vessel impacted rocks while trying to reach Spanish coasts in the past week, Barbate, Spain, Nov. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A migrant rests aboard Nuestra Madre de Loreto, a Spanish fishing vessel that rescued twelve migrants two days ago about 78 miles north off Libyan shore, Nov. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Migrants looks out from the Nuestra Madre de Loreto Spanish fishing vessel carrying 12 migrants rescued off the coast of Lybia on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A sick migrant from Egypt is given medical treatment on the deck of the Nuestra Madre de Loreto Spanish fishing vessel carrying 12 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya, Nov. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

In this Nov. 30, 2018, photo, a sick migrant is evacuated by helicopter from the Nuestra Madre de Loreto Spanish fishing vessel carrying 12 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Migrants eat a meal aboard the Spanish fishing vessel Nuestra Madre de Loreto carrying migrants rescued off the coast of Libya, Dec. 1, 2018. One of the migrants was evacuated by helicopter for medical reasons. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A member of Spanish NGO Pro activa Open Arms holds a baby rescued at a dinghy at Alboran Sea, about 40 miles (64 kms) from the Spanish coasts, Oct. 11 2018. The Open Arms is now based at Motril port in order to start operating in the western Mediterranean area. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

In this Jan. 19, 2019 photo, people throw turnips at the Jarramplas as he makes his way through the streets beating his drum during the Jarramplas festival in the tiny southwestern Spanish town of Piornal, Spain. The Jarramplas festival centres around a town resident dressed up in a colourful costume and a horned helmet. The Jarramplas has to dance around the village facing a vicious onslaught of oversized turnips hurled at him by mobs of locals. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A metal worker throws a bottle during confrontations with the police in Cadiz, southern Spain, Nov. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

In this Jan. 19, 2019 photo, people hold up turnips before throwing them at the Jarramplas as he makes his way through the streets beating his drum during the Jarramplas festival in the tiny southwestern Spanish town of Piornal, Spain. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Protesters, left, march during a strike organized by metal workers in Cadiz, southern Spain, Nov. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Miguel Angel Moreno is lifted by people after playing the Jarramplas in the Spanish town of Piornal, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Horses race along the beach at Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain, Aug. 10, 2019. Beach races are a yearly event that have been running for over 140 years. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A jockey walks back after a race along the beach at Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain, August 11, 2019. Beach races are a yearly event that has been running for over 140 years. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

People use voting booths at a pooling station during general elections in Gibraltar, Oct. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

In this Nov. 9, 2019 photo, a contestant poses for judges on stage during the 51st national body building competition held in Estepona, Spain. Spanish absolute championship is the largest yearly event on the national body-building calendar, where over 500 competitors compete for the title of Spanish champion on 40 different categories. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Men lie on the ground after arriving in the Spanish territory at the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Migrants stand at Arguineguin port after their rescue on the southwestern coast of the Gran Canaria island, Spain, Dec. 01, 2020. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

Spanish Army and Guardia Civil officers take positions next to the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

People mainly from Morocco stand on the shore as Spanish Army cordon off the area at the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A man is held by soldiers of the Spanish Army at the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)

A man lies on the ground on the beach after swimming to the area at the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo)