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It was said of the rebels in Sierra Leone, 'If they'd have gotten their hands on God, they'd have killed Him too.' The civil war which raged there from 1991 to 2001 is counted as one of the bloodiest in African history. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed, and hundreds of thousands more raped, mutilated, tortured or enslaved. Victims who had an arm or leg hacked off still dominate the street scene. Directly after the war was over, Pep Bonet went to Sierra Leone. In FAITH IN CHAOS (2002-2003) he documented how the population, physically and psychologically scarred by their extreme experiences, sought to rebuild their lives. 'The determination of these victims of war and poverty leaves us all in the dust,' he says. Pep Bonet (Spain/Netherlands, b. 1974) alternates between working in The Netherlands and his native Spain. He has done a number of reports on crisis zones in Africa, including Zambia, Ethiopia and Darfur. Bonet has won numerous prizes, including Photographer of the Year, at Perpignan, France. In the fall of 2005 Bonet is rewarded for his series 'Faith in Chaos' with the Eugene Smith Award. PEP BONET WINNS EUGENE SMITH AWARD Spanish born but Dutch trained and based photographer Pep Bonet (1971) has been granted the Eugene Smith Award 2005 for his series 'Faith in Chaos'. Images from this series on the aftermath of the civil war in Sierra Leone, were included in Traces & Omens, main exhibition of this year's Noorderlicht Photofestival. Bonet, who is represented by Panos agency, regularly works in Africa. Over the last number of years he visited Zambia, Congo, Sudan and Ethiopia, and shortly he hopes to publish a book about the effects of Aids on the continent. The Eugene Smith Award is named after American photographer Eugene Smith (1918-1978). It is granted yearly and is held to be one of the most important awards for concerned, documentary photography. In the past the award -30.000 euro, to be used for completing a project- has amongst others been won by Trent Parke, Eugene Richards, Sebastiao Salgado, James Nachtwey en Carl de Keyzer. Also visit: |
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