Zohra Bensemra

Zohra Bensemra (born 1968) is an Algerian photographer working in the Middle East and North Africa.

Biography

Zohra Bensemra was born in Algiers, the capital and largest city of Algeria, in 1968, and grew up seeing her older brother take amateur pictures. Around the age of six, she started imitating him and taking his cameras when he was not at home. One day her brother found out what she had been doing and screamed at her, but later got her a small camera for herself and she started by taking pictures of her classmates and her love for photography has been growing ever since.[1]

Bensemra has worked as a photojournalist since 1990. She stated in her Reuters profile that she felt she first became and felt like a photographer in 1995; the first time she ever saw dead bodies in her life. There had been a car bombing in the centre of Algerian capital, close to the police station and newspaper where she was working. The first thing she saw was the body of a burnt woman on the ground and couldn't keep her emotions intact. So while she was in tears, she decided to take photographs of the bodies. Once she was back in her newspaper, still crying, she started to pick out the pictures she would like to develop, but was scared to do so. The next day she woke feeling like a totally different person, ready to face anything and become a real photographer. She firmly believes that in order to succeed, especially in jobs like this , you have to learn to accept the challenges that come with it as well.[1] She first worked for Reuters as a stringer during the Algerian Civil War in 1997. In 2000 she covered the conflict between the Albanians and the Serbs in Macedonia. She was assigned to Iraq in 2003. While working in Najaf, she became a staff photographer for Reuters. She has since covered the South Sudanese independence referendum, 2011, the Tunisian Revolution and the Libyan Civil War (2011).[2]

The Tunisian Revolution, Bensemra stated, was the assignment that left the biggest mark on her because she never thought the day would come when the Tunisians would rebel against their ruler, especially knowing how controlled the state was. She arrived to Tunis in January 14, 2011, right when a big group of people were gathering outside the interior ministry demanding for the current president, Zine al-Albidine Ben Ali to step down. She was not only impressed by the huge amount of people that were present, but also by the maturity and respect in which they were demanding their right to freedom of expression.[1]

In 2011, Bensemra's photographs were displayed at the Deutsche Bank building in Frankfurt, Germany. The bank's Global Head of Art, Friedhelm Hütte, commented: "Bensemra is an important artist to us as she knows how to cut through the borders of the mind to leave a lasting and meaningful impression. She has a great ability to show the underlying background stresses and problems in the conflicts of the moment."[3] In 2012, she visited and took photos in Syria[4]

Her work usually covers "conflict, humanitarian issues, and stories about women and politics" and is largely based in countries suffering from internal conflict – social, economic, or humanitarian. Bensemra stated that her goal when photographing events is to promote a better understanding of the conflict to challenge those in power to improve the situation. Her favorite assignments are stories related to people's struggle for citizenship and human rights against dominating forces.[1]

In 2017, Bensemra was chosen as agency photographer of the year by the picture desk of The Guardian.[5]

Awards

  • 2005: Winner, European Union prize for the best African photographer.[5]
  • 2017: The Guardian picture desk agency photographer of the year.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Zohra Bensemra". Reuters. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Photographer notebook: Zohra Bensemra", Reuters Full Focus. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Meet Zohra Bensemra: Reuters pictures are a work of art", Thomson Reuters, 15 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Bensemra, Zohra. "My Journey into Syria". Reuters. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Rencontres de la photographie africaine 2005: Talent brut, Prix des Rencontres Africaines" Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Photographie.com. (in French) Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Fidler, Matt (21 December 2017). "From the agencies: Photographer of the year 2017: Zohra Bensemra". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  • Sim, David. "Algeria's Dying Art: Berber Women with Facial Tattoos Tell Their Stories [Photo Report]." International Business Times. IBTimes Co., Ltd, 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 June 2016.
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