2002 Photo Contest, People in the News, 2nd prize
Photographer

Erik Refner

for Berlingske Tidende

10 June, 2001

Children play in waste water flowing from the city of Peshawar, near Jalozai refugee camp in Pakistan. Daytime temperatures reached 50°C, and children had to cool off however they could.

Decades of political instability and drought in Afghanistan had driven tens of thousands of people into neighboring Pakistan, even before the US invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. Jalozai was one of the largest refugee camps, with up to 80,000 people living in appalling conditions, many dying of dehydration and disease. It was closed in February 2002. Viewers told the photographer that the sensitive images, giving a clue to conditions rather than being brutally graphic, had a powerful impact.

About the photographer

Erik Refner

After 20 years behind the camera, Erik Refner has now devoted his career to helping photographers. He is the CEO of IDIP.Agency, an organization that finds and protects photograp...

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