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The leprosy colony Abu Zaabal in Egypt, 40km north of Cairo, was built in 1933 encompassing a hospital and agricultural land in order to be self-sustainable. The bacterium responsible for leprosy was discovered in 1873 by the Norwegian Dr Armauer Hansen. Until the 1930s, the illness was seen as uncurable and highly infectious. Left untreated, leprosy can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. In fact leprosy is not highly infectious, as approximately 95% of people are immune and sufferers are no longer infectious after only a couple of days treatment.

Claudia Wiens

info@claudiawiens.com 00201001109029 Egypt

Topics of Focus

Human interest stories, culture, people

Geographic Areas of Focus

Middle East, North Africa, Turkey

Biography

Claudia Wiens is a German photographer and artist based in Istanbul and Cairo, between which she is travelling internationally for her work. Her work has appeared in international publications, such as GEO, Stern and Guardian and she works frequently for a number of NGOs, including UNICEF, GIZ and Johns Hopkins. Claudia Wiens is the author of three photo books and her work has frequently been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide at venues like the Kestner Museum (Hanover), Antikenmuseum (Basel), Kreuzbergmuseum (Berlin), HOST Gallery (London) and several Goethe Institutes. In 2013 she received the Border Crossers grant from Robert Bosch Foundation for her current long term photo project “Post Revolution art and artists in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya”.
www.claudiawiens.com and www.claudiawiensartphoto.com