Massimo Berruti

The winner of this year's Ville de Perpignan Young Reporter Award is 30-year-old Italian photographer Massimo Berruti, for his captivating black and white work on Pakistan, where clashes between the army and the Taliban are increasingly affecting the population.

Massimo initially studied biology but soon became bored and decided to take a one-year photography course during which he spent time in Cyprus. His teacher saw potential and convinced him to become a photographer.

Massimo then became an independent photographer, selling his pictures to Espresso. Two years ago, he left for Pakistan during the 2008 election campaign. He grew attached to the country and the changes it is undergoing.

"Using the military in the war against the Taliban solves nothing. It only strengthens terrorist organizations. An end to all of this can only be found by using good intelligence."

I'm always intrigued when a young photographer does not take pictures in color. I asked him why he chose black and white. He told me color was too much of a distraction for him. He said he was fascinated by esthetics and that having to think about combining and blending colors would be a loss of time and energy. With black and white, he is able to take photographs without having to worry about what is happening in the scene. It's a way for him to things more simply, and capture their essence.

Some of his pictures were taken on the fly, without looking through the viewfinder. The photos are intentionally blurred in order to not include just neat and framed scenes in his show.