2014 Photo Contest, Contemporary Issues, 2nd prize

War and Mental Health After Crisis

Photographer

Robin Hammond

10 October, 2012

Traditional healer Lekwe Deezia treats mental illness through the power of prayer and with herbal medicines, in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.  While receiving treatment, which can take months, patients are chained to trees in his courtyard. They say they are fed at most once a day, are beaten, and not given shelter from the elements.

In areas of crisis—in failed states, in refugee camps, in countries where the infrastructure has collapsed—the mentally ill are frequently condemned to neglect or lives of misery. Disregarded in parts of the world by government and the aid community, sometimes far from family support networks, the mentally ill can lead isolated lives, subject to ill treatment.

About the photographer

Robin Hammond

The winner of two World Press Photo prizes, the RF Kennedy Journalism Award, three Pictures of the Year International Awards, the W.Eugene Smith Award for Humanistic Photography,...

Technical information

Shutter Speed
1/197
Focal length
28.0 mm
F-Stop
2.8
ISO
200
Camera
Canon EOS 5D Mark III

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