Bénédicte Kurzen (born 1980), is a French photographer and
photojournalist
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
. She is based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Biography
Kurzen was born in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. She graduated with a master's degree in
contemporary history
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is ...
from
Sorbonne University in Paris. She also studied
semiology for one year. She devoted her thesis to the "war photographer's myth", a subject that inspired her to become herself a visual storyteller.
Her work has been published in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
,'' ''
Paris Match,'' ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
,'' ''Le Monde Magazine'' and ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
.''
Works
In 2003, Kurzen moved to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, where she covered as a
freelancer
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
journalist the conflicts emanating from the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. It was at this time that she seriously began her photography.
In 2004, her photographic work turned to a more documentary style. She focused on the lives of
suicide bombers and widows from the Gaza Strip. With this work, she contributed to the international project of the group Violence Against Women. in collaboration with
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
(MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affecte ...
and
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
/
Kurzen moved to
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
in 2005, where she co-founded Eve Photographers, a collective of six women photographers whose main themes were "women", and in particular on issues related to
motherhood
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...
. She reported on HIV/AIDS and on childbirth in Africa.
Awarded for her portrait of Congolese rebel leader
Laurent Nkunda
Laurent Nkunda (or Laurent Nkundabatware Mihigo (birth name), or Laurent Nkunda Batware, or as he prefers to be called The Chairman; born February 2, 1967) is a former General in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is th ...
(
Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...
rebel officer of the army of the
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
and ruthless warlord) in 2009, Kurzen then decided to focus on the situation in Nigeria.
For nearly ten years, Kurzen has been following conflicts and socio-economic changes in Africa. In South Africa, where she is based, she explores the social challenges of the post-apartheid society, producing ''Next of Kin,'' ''The Boers Last Stand'' and ''Amaqabane,'' about the lives of anti-apartheid veterans. The Amaqabane project was produced as part of
World Press Photo's Joop Swart Masterclass in 2008.
In 2011, she won a
Pulitzer Center grant, which allowed her to produce a work on Nigeria, ''A Nation Lost to Gods.''. The photographs are presented to
Visa pour l'Image and the photographer is nominated for the Visa d'Or 2012
After becoming a full member of the
NOOR photo agency in 2012, she chose to move to
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
, where she continued her coverage of Africa and Nigeria. In 2015, her investigative work led to the exhibition ''Shine Ur Eye,'' in collaboration with Robin Maddock and
Cristina de Middel
Cristina de Middel (born 1975) is a Spanish documentary photographer and artist living and working in Uruapan, Mexico.
De Middel self-published ''The Afronauts'' in 2012, a photobook about the short-lived Zambian space program in Southern Africa. ...
. The project was presented at the
Lagos Photo Festival and
.
Kurzen became a senior lecturer in journalism for the American University of Nigeria.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurzen, Bénédicte
1980 births
Living people
Artists from Lyon
French women photographers
French photojournalists
War photographers
Women photojournalists