The photographic project "Land of Ibeji" by NOOR visual-storytellers Sanne De Wilde and Benedicte Kurzen was featured in De Volkskrant and Culture Trip magazine's "The Gender and Identity" Issue, which launched on 4 July. The magazine is available at Tube and train stations in London, airports, hotels, cafés and cultural hubs in London and other major UK cities.
© Sanne De Wilde and Bénédicte Kurzen
The NOOR Foundation and Nikon Europe are delighted to announce the 2019 series of Nikon-NOOR Academy Masterclasses. The first of the new series of masterclasses with free tuition will take place in Bulgaria 15-18 July, and the dates for Austria and Spain will be announced in September.
During each of the four-day trainings, 15 selected participants will work together with three NOOR authors as their tutors, to share experiences, work on portfolios, improve editing skills and learn how to create more impactful visual stories. NOOR and the NOOR Foundation are committed to encouraging aspiring photojournalists and documentary photographers. Masterclasses are provided free of charge for all participants, made possible with the continued support of Nikon Europe.
Nikon-NOOR Academy Masterclass in Zurich © Jon Lowenstein / NOOR
All masterclasses are open to young and emerging visual storytellers from all nationalities and locations within Europe. We highly encourage visual storytellers from Bulgaria, Austria and Spain to apply to their local country’s masterclass.
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
Fee: Free of Charge
Tutors: Nina Berman, Kadir van Lohuizen and Bénédicte Kurzen.
Dates: 15 - 18 July 2019
Deadline to apply: Sunday, June 9 2019, 23:59 CET
Open to all young & emerging visual storytellers from all nationalities. We highly encourage applications from Bulgarian photographers. There are no age restrictions, however the masterclass is more suited for emerging photographers at a early/mid career stage. Applicants are required a basic knowledge of English as the masterclass will take place in English.
For Le Monde, Bénédicte Kurzen continues to document the ongoing ethnic violence that continues to strike in the Nigerian Plateau state, leaving thousands of people for dead since the past few years.
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.
NOOR is proud to share the projects of 2018 Nikon-NOOR Academy Second Session students.
NOOR visual-storytellers Benedicte Kurzen, Sanne De Wilde, Francesco Zizola, Sebastian Liste, Jon Lowenstein, Tanya Habjouqa, Kadir van Lohuizen and Leonard Pongo led 49 students in the masterclasses held in Italy, Hungary and Switzerland. During four intensive days of the Nikon-NOOR Academy, each group reviewed and shared their portfolios, listened to presentations by the photographers, held in-depth discussions on practical and creative issues, and edited their visual stories.
The masterclasses have been made possible thanks to the generous support of Nikon Europe.
Italy
2018 Nikon-NOOR Academy Second Session
Participants in Italy:
Alessia Rollo
Camilla Ferrari
Camilla Piana
Camillo Pasquarelli
Elias Holzknecht
Elisabetta Zavoli
Emilienne Malfatto
Francesca Volpi
Giulia Frigieri
Lucas Bäuml
Marco Tiberio
Michele Spatari
Stefano Sbrulli
Valeria Cherchi
Participants in Hungary:
Aleksandra Bardas
Andras Polgar
Andrea Alai
Elena Anosova
Elipe Mahe
Istvan Bielik
Istvan Juhasz
Jeanne Frank
Marton Monus
Nik Neubauer
Pavel Bogolepov
Pavel Nasadil
Pavlo Bishko
Stanislava Novgorodtseva
Tamas Soki
Viktoryia Gerasimava
Zsolt Balazs
Zuzana Gogova
Hungary
2018 Nikon-NOOR Academy Second Session
Switzerland
2018 Nikon-NOOR Academy Second Session
Participants in Switzerland:
Anne Ackermann
Charlotte Hooij
Claudia Schildknecht
Florian Spring
Hugh Kinsella Cunningham
Kristina Steiner
Lukas Kreibig
Marion Bernet
Matthieu Zellweger
Meinrad Schade
Nadia Natascha Horsted-Narejo
Nathalie Taiana
Nicholas Constant
Olivia Sasse
Ronald Pizzoferrato
Tamina-Florentine Zuch
Tim Rod
Photos from Benedicte Kurzen's story was published in der Spiegel. She captured a portrait of German retiree Michael Hoppe, who is not only spending his holiday abroad, but also established a charity organization and spends several month in Namibia working on site of his projects.
Inspired by Benedicte Kurzen’s powerful photos of the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Jonathan Littell realizes "Wrong Elements”, a documentary on the massacres committed by the group in the 80s in Uganda. Photos by Benedicte Kurzen in Polka Magazine.
©Pep Bonet / NOOR
We are pleased to announce the 15 participants selected for the Nikon-NOOR Academy Workshop, which will take place in Paris between 20 to 23 March 2017. We would like sincerely thank all the people who sent forward their applications and congratulate the photographers who will participate in the workshop with Pep Bonet, Robin Hammond & Benedicte Kurzen.
Camilo Leon-Quijano Charlotte Gonzalez Chloe Sharrock Estelle Car Etienne Maury
Lucie Mach
Mathias Benguigui Maude Girard Yulia Grigoryants
We are excited to meet & work together in Paris!
© Yuri Kozyrev / NOOR
We are delighted to announce the 15 participants selected for the Nikon-NOOR Academy Workshop, which will take place in Berlin between 7 to 10 March 2017. We would like sincerely thank all the people who sent forward their applications and congratulate the photographers who will participate in the workshop with Yuri Kozyrev, Bénédicte Kurzen and Kadir van Lohuizen
Agata Szymanska-Medina Arne Piepke Astrid Dill Daniela Koenig Emile Ducke Emine Akbaba Ingmar Björn Nolting Jonas Kako Ksenia Les Lena Mucha Lisa Hermes
Natalya Reznik Paul Lovis Wagner Sebastian Wells Sebi Berens
We are excited to meet & work together in Berlin!
