Feb 24 -
Through The Lens of Zohra Bensemra
Born in Algiers in 1968, Zohra was recruited as a stringer photographer for Reuters by Mallory Langsdon in 1997 during the last years of the conflict in Algeria. In 2000, Zohra was sent on her first assignment abroad for Reuters to Macedonia where ethnic Albanians were taking refuge from Serbian forces. In 2003 she went to Iraq while Saddam was still on the run. In Najaf, Iraq, in 2004 Zohra was made staff photographer from Reuters. Zohra won the European Union prize for the best African press photographer in 2005. Still based in Algiers she continues to cover some African and Middle East countries. Last year she documented Sudan’s referendum, Tunisia’s uprising and Libya’s revolution. Here, Zohra recounts her experience as an Arab woman photographer. [More]
Photos :
#1 : Burqa-clad Afghan women travel in a taxi in Kabul, December 31, 2009.
“Several of my friends left the country but I didn’t want to leave because of my career. All the journalists who left Algeria didn’t do their job - they left their job. But I stayed here to do mine and I’m proud of that. It’s difficult because now I need a visa to go anywhere.”
#2 : A woman carries a piece of furniture after a fresh fight between Kikuyu and Kalenjin tribes at Mao Summit in the outskirts of Molo, 180 km (110 miles) west of Nairobi February 28, 2008.
“I like strong women. When you are Arab, you start your battle when you are young because it’s not easy. When you are a woman, it’s the same for many things everywhere but especially in Arab countries. You have to fight all the time – all your life – to get something. Sometimes it’s really small but you have to fight too. In the end, that’s why I like strong women. I don’t like it when women start crying. I like to be close to strong women. I want to transmit the message to other women – you have to be like this to get what you want. Don’t cry. Don’t stay in your place and say you are a woman without power. You have power – you just have to go and do what you want to do. Nobody will give it to you – you have to take it.”
#3 : Tuareg women clap their hands during the official visit of Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the southern city of Tamanrasset January 7, 2008.
#4 : Displaced Sudanese Fatna Adam Hamed (R), 11, who was raped last Friday by unidentified armed men, leans on her mother’s shoulder at her shelter at Otash Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Nyala, southern Darfur March 18, 2009.
“In 1996, there was a big massacre with more than 500 people killed in one night. The terrorists used to kill during the night. They would only kill journalists during the day as they left from their house. But in the villages they would go out during the nights because they knew the army wouldn’t.”
#5 : Anjeline Were Musikoyo from divisional office mediates for peace between people from Kalenjin and Kikuyu tribes after a fresh fight at Mao Summit in the outskirts of Molo, 180 km (110 miles) west of Nairobi February 28, 2008.
“I would like to move some time to see how it is in other countries – not only in Arab countries but in other African countries. I love African countries. I want to unblock my mind. When you travel, you always learn. I would never stop learning.”
#6 : An Afghan woman is seen through a mirror at her house in Kabul August 20, 2005.
#7 : Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 21th Infantry question the wife of one of two men suspected of transporting explosives during a night raid in Mosul, Iraq, January 12, 2005.
“In Iraq we saw people suffering after the country was liberated from the Saddam dictatorship. There weren’t bodies but it was almost like seeing bodies when we would go to the hospital and see people suffering. I didn’t cry like I did in Algeria after the bombing but it affected me. I wanted to help but at the same time it’s not my job. My job is to be a witness. I wanted to do something, to free people from their pain, but I couldn’t do it. It’s difficult for me when I want to do something but can’t.”
#8 : An Afghan girl watches U.S. Army soldiers from Task Force Bravo 2/151 infantry during a patrol at Alo Khil village in Khowst province, Afghanistan, December 26, 2009.
#9 : A woman waits for transport in Ouled Said, on the outskirts of the oasis town of Timimoun, about 1,200 km (745 miles) south of Algiers March 24, 2008.
“Of course, we need to improve a lot. We have a lot of poverty and they have to find a solution. The government in Algeria doesn’t build factories to hire people - they just build highways and apartments for free. They have to change and find a solution to improve the life of Algerians.”
#10 : Mannoubiya Bouazizi, mother of Mohamed Bouazizi cries at her home in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid January 19, 2011. Bouazizi, a vegetable seller, set himself alight on December 17, igniting nationwide protests that forced ex-president Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali to flee the country.
[Credit : Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Ahh I love these.
