2014 Photo Contest, Contemporary Issues, 2nd prize

War and Mental Health After Crisis

Photographer

Robin Hammond

16 October, 2012

A man with one leg amputated, and the other gangrenous, lies in the Port Harcourt Rehabilitation Facility in the Niger Delta. The facility houses over 170 people with mental disabilities, who were formerly living on the streets. Originally designed as a home for widows, the building became a psychiatric hospital in 1999, as homeless people were cleared from the streets in a government clean-up in anticipation of the FIFA World Youth Soccer Championships. 

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
1/25
Focal length
28.0 mm
F-Stop
1.8
ISO
400
Camera
Canon EOS 5D Mark III

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