NOOR and the NOOR Foundation are very proud to announce that Bénédicte Kurzen and Sanne De Wilde have been nominated for the World Press Photo Contest, Portrait Stories.
Bénédicte Kurzen and Sanne De Wilde have been nominated for the World Press Photo Contest, Portrait series with their collaborative photographic project Land of Ibeji discovering the mythology of twinhood in Nigeria. The rate of twin births in West Africa is about four times higher than in the rest of the world. The centre of this twin zone is Igbo-Ora, a sleepy southwest town in Nigeria. “Ibeji” meaning 'double birth' and ‘the inseparable two’ in Yoruba stands for the ultimate harmony between two people.
On receiving their nomination, Bénédicte Kurzen and Sanne De Wilde shared:
"The project is an invitation to look beyond identity as appearance and beyond the exoticism of the identical by calling upon a universal mythological figure: The Twin. It is an invitation for the viewer to travel back into the past and through that rediscover the present and move into the future.
We hope the ‘Ibeji’ project will inspire other creators. We would love for Nigerian artists to contribute from their perspective and expand on the project. We are very grateful for the participation and patience of the people we photographed and the time they spent with us.
We also want to thank Nikon Europe in believing and supporting this challenging project and allowing us to develop this project fully."
This project was graciously supported by the Nikon Europe Ambassador program.