Benedicte Kurzen / NOOR Images
Bénédicte Kurzen (born in France in 1980) began her career as an independent photographer in 2003 when she moved to Israel and covered news in the Gaza Strip, Iraq and Lebanon In 2004, she moved from reporting to news to a more documentary approach with a project on female suicide bombers and Palestinian widows in the Gaza Strip. This report is part of a collective project, “Violence against women”, in collaboration with Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières. Bénédicte Kurzen has a master's degree in contemporary history from the Sorbonne, Paris; the subject of his thesis, “The Myth of the War Photographer”, encouraged him to choose the art of visual storytelling as a means of expression. For ten years, she has covered conflicts and socio-economic changes in Africa, and in particular in South Africa where she has documented the challenges facing post-apartheid society, with projects such as "Next of Kin", " The Boers' Last Stand” and “Amaqabane” on the lives of ex-combatants in the anti-apartheid struggle (the latter for the prestigious Joop Swart Masterclass in 2008). In 2011, she received a grant from the Pulitzer Center which allowed her to do a major report on Nigeria: "A Nation Lost to the Gods". His work has been presented at the Visa pour l’Image – Perpignan festival, in screening and in exhibition, and his reportage on Nigeria was nominated for the Visa d’Or in 2012.
In 2012, Bénédicte Kurzen joined the NOOR agency, and decided to settle in Lagos from where she could continue to cover Africa and especially Nigeria. His work resulted in a traveling collective exhibition, “Shine Ur Eye”, with Robin Maddock and Cristina de Middel, presented notably in London and Lagos. At the same time, she teaches journalism at the American University of Nigeria where she is an assistant lecturer.
Find his report "Nigeria, a nation lost to the Gods" on the Photographic Fund:
