Photography for De Volkskrant: genetically modified mosquitos in Burkina Faso

‘Target Malaria’ is the Gates Foundation-backed organization that wants to genetically modify mosquitoes in order to combat malaria. In the small village of Bana, Burkina Faso, researchers are looking to change mosquito DNA, so that the mosquitos that can transfer malaria can only give birth to male baby mosquitoes, which will eventually mean that one type of malaria spreading mosquito will die out.

The plans of Target Malaria are contested. Western countries, where malaria is causing many people to die, have their doubts about ‘GMO’s’, ‘Genetically Modified Organisms’. Dutch biologist and journalist Hidde Boersma wrote about Target Malaria’s plans and efforts, and what it will mean if they are allowed to genetically modify mosquitoes in Burkina Faso.

For Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, I’ve staid in Burkina Faso for over a week, in order to take pictures that are published with Hidde’s story. With Karsten de Vreugd and René Hoeksema, we have also filmed bits of interviews that can be viewed in an extensive online production on De Volkskrant website. For a behind-the-scenes glimpse of our activities in Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso and Bana, you can check out this pinned Instagram Story!

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Photography for NRC Handelsblad: Makueni Governor Kibwana portrayed

For Dutch newspaper NRC​ Handelsblad, I met up with Kivutha Kibwana​, the Governor of Kenya’s Makueni County​ (and presidential candidate for the upcoming 2022 presidential elections in Kenya). NRC’s Africa correspondent Koert Lindijer wrote a story about Kibwana and his county leadership. Under his rule, Makueni became the county with the lowest corruption level in Kenya. That has a lot to do with the installation of the People’s Committee, which is involved with every government project in the county.

I spent a day with Governor Kibwana and his young team members, while he had meetings at his office and while he paid a vist to the Makueni Mother and Child Hospital, which counts as the finished flagship project over the Governor. Apart from health, the story of Koert also focuses on water management, and so I also took pictures of the Kwa Mbila Dam, where county residents can get water close to their homes, for a low, fixed price per filled jerrycan.

You can read the story about Governor Kibwana on the website of NRC Handelsblad. To read what NRC Handelsblad previously wrote about my Instagram page, click here.

The New Humanitarian featured my Rwanda story

At least 800.000 people were killed in the genocide that tore Rwanda apart, exactly 25 years ago. Victims were mainly Tutsis and moderate Hutus, often murdered by friends and neighbors, following the outbreak of inter-ethnic violence which lasted 100 days.

Nowadays, in the southern village of Mbyo, survivors and perpetrators live together in a ‘reconciliation village’, established by the non- governmental organisation Prison Fellowship Rwanda. Genocide survivor Jacqueline Mukamana lives next door to Mathias Sendegeya, a genocide perpetrator who killed six of Jacqueline’s family members. Yet, they are friends.

In Mbyo, I photographed and interviewed Mathias and Jacqueline about the events of 25 years ago, and how they have found a way to live next door to each other. That story is published by The New Humanitarian, an online platform that puts quality, independent journalism at the service of the millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world. They report from the heart of conflicts and disasters to inform prevention and response.

MENDO Books I have worked on as their Editorial Coordinator

The Amsterdam flagship store of MENDO has highlighted all the 33 photography books that MENDO has initiated and created through the years. From 2016 onwards, I have been on board as their (freelance) Editorial Coordinator, working on 11 of the books that were published since. In this blog post, you can find all the photo books that boast my name in the colophon:

• Starring Amsterdam. Created all texts and links to online documentation;

• Depart. All texts, including introduction and interviews. Also includes a chapter with pictures I took in Jordan, Palestine and Israel;

• Carli Hermès. Interviews with Narda van ‘t Veer and Fokke de Jong;

• The Workshop. Editorial Coordination and redirecting;

• Living in Style Amsterdam. Editorial Coordination and texts;

• Sportret. Editorial Coordination and texts;

• This is Not a F*cking Street Style Book. Editorial Coordination and redirecting;

• Streets of New York, Streets of Amsterdam & Streets of Paris. Selecting and reaching out to all photographers, selecting photography & Editorial Coordination;

• Martin Garrix: Life = Crazy. Interviews with Martin Garrix’s team members, managers, parents and friends;

If you’d like to find out more about the books that I have worked on, including some non-MENDO books, you can check out the Books tab of this website.

Cyclone Idai: our reports for RTL & Al Jazeera.

Cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe on 14 March, caused massive flooding and killed more than 840 people. Together with Africa correspondent Saskia Houttuin, I traveled to the town of Beira, which was hit severely by both the cyclone and the floods.

During our stay in Mozambique, we reported on the Idai aftermath, when thousands of people still needed to be rescued from nearby, flooded areas. You can find some of our reports on Saskia’s YouTube channel, read this Dutch story (with one of my images) or you can check out the video below. I also created a visual story in words and pictures for Al Jazeera.

If you’d like to help: the International Red Cross and NGO’s like Caritas (that used some of my images for funding and blog updates) are still on the ground in Mozambique, to deliver aid for those in need.

New assignments and features added

On the ‘Features’ tab of my website, you can see some of my assignments, collaborations, publications and features. I have recently added new work and assignments, like my piece for Musotrees Magazine, the collaboration between NPO Radio 1 program De Nieuws BV and me, a Telegraaf interview and more.

On the ‘Features’ page, you can click on each logo to find out more.

RTL Nieuws report about sand mining in Kenya

In some Kenyan states, sand mining by organized crime mobsters is a big problem. In Makueni County, however, the local government has found a way to reduce people from removing the sand from dry river beds. Kenya is building more and more, and sand is indispensable for the creation of glass and concrete. One can make quite some money by mining and selling the thick grains of Makueni sand.

For Dutch TV broadcaster RTL Nieuws, Africa correspondent Saskia and I created a report on why illegal sand mining is such a big issue, and how some county’s are putting it to a stop.

My Uganda cover story in Msafiri, the inflight magazine of Kenya Airways

You can now read my ten-page travel story about Uganda in the inflight magazine of Kenya Airways: Msafiri! The piece features an off-trail safari with Uganda Carnivores doctor Ludwig Siefert, a not-so-successful chimpanzee trek in Kalinzu and a spectacular trip to the mountain gorillas of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. I'm also providing some tips on where to eat, where to stay and which spots in Kampala and Entebbe you shouldn't miss. Nearly all photographs were also taken by me!

You can read the whole issue of Msafiri magazine through this link. If you’d like to read more about my work for Msafiri, you can check out this blogpost about my cover shot for the November 2018 edition, or click here to read my Ethiopia travel story of a couple of months ago.

RTL Nieuws report on avocado farmers in Kenya

On toast, in a salad or just as a healthy snack: the Dutch love avocados. My colleagues at MENDO even created an avocado cookbook for the avo only restaurant The Avocado Show! Our love for avocados has a clear effect on countries where the fruit can grow: in Kenya, farmers even uproot their coffee plants to make money off this ‘avocado boom’.

With Africa correspondent Saskia, I traveled to Machakos, a region where more and more farmers are growing avocados to cash in on the global avo trend. You can watch our TV report above, or you can check it out on the RTL Nieuws website.

New photography work: Nigeria elections

During our recent trip to Nigeria, where Saskia and I were on assignment for RTL Nieuws and VPRO Bureau Buitenland, we coincidentally were in Lagos when the delayed presidential elections took place. Saskia and I worked on a story about the dangerous impact of fake news on Nigeria’s elections. If you can read Dutch, you can check out the whole story (and see some of my pictures) here.

I'm a Hero Traveler Contributor

I partnered up with New York based advertising and new media agency Hero Group, the company behind the all-new travel app Hero Traveler! As one of their ‘Contributors’, I have created three travel stories about Uganda, Petra (Jordan) and Zeeland (The Netherlands).

You can check out the stories, pictures and videos through the desktop version of Hero Traveler, but I advise you to download Hero Traveler as the story looks way cooler in the app itself.  

Online now: the 'Countries' tab

You might’ve noticed that there’s a new tab on my website, called ‘Countries’! On this page, I have highlighted some of my favorite pictures taken in several countries. I’m very active on Instagram, but due to that activity, most of my pictures are buried under new content and so it can take some scrolls before you’ll see them. On the new ‘Countries’ page, you can now also see older work.

Some of the featured countries are Iran, Senegal, Mali, Uganda, India and Kenya.
Check out the ‘Countries’ page here.

#RiversideAttack coverage of al-Shabaab attack in Nairobi

Yesterday and the day before yesterday, terrorist organization al-Shabaab carried out a large-scale terror attack on the DusitD2 hotel and business complex in Nairobi, Kenya. At least 21 people were killed when Somali militants stormed the compound.

RTL correspondent Saskia Houttuin and I could hear the explosions from where we were, about two kilometers away from the Dusit complex. While the attack was still ongoing further down the road, we reported from behind the security cordon.

The following day, security forces and terrorists were still fighting. Saskia and I visited the August 7th Memorial Park in Nairobi’s CBD, where the Kenyan Red Cross collected donated blood for the victims of the attack. Later on, we also visited the city’s mortuarium and talked to Moureen, who had been inside the complex during the attack for over 13 hours.

Above, you can see some of the pictures I took over the last two days. Below, you can find publications of Saskia and me.

• Saskia reported for BNR Nieuwsradio on the second day of the attack;

• On Twitter, Saskia and I reported over the course of the last few days, tweeting updates in a thread about the attack;

• De Telegraaf newspaper interviewed me on the evening of the attack. The article also features 8 of my pictures and videos;

• Here, you can watch our Facebook Live report on the RTL Nieuws page, about the blood transfusions for the victims of the attack;

• In the broadcast of RTL Nieuws on the evening of the attack, we made a small report from behind the police cordon, filmed with an iPhone;

• For the 7.30pm RTL Nieuws broadcast of the next day, we filmed a reportage about the aftermath of the attack. You can watch the whole broadcast here, or see the video below.