Photographer #373: Martina Bacigalupo

Martina Bacigalupo, 1978, Italy, studied photography at the London College of Printing. For the past four years she has been working as an engaged freelance photographer in East Africa where she focuses on personal projects and collaborates with international NGOs. Several bodies of work were made in Burundi. The series Burundian Elections deals with the rise in tension surrounding the 2010 elections. The other stories in Burundi often deal with physical handicap. For The Backyard Women she followed several women who suffer from an obstetric fistula, a lesion responsible for a permanent and uncontrollable flow of urine or fecal matter, often due to a long and difficult childbirth. More than 80% of these women are thrown out by their husbands creating vast social problems and the resources to treat them are lacking. In Kirundi, fistula is called "the backyard disease". Martina covered stories in several other countries as Somalia, Congo and Italy. In 2009 she released the book Fiore del Mio Pericolo. In 2010 Martina received the Canon Female Photojournalist Award. The following images come from the series Burundian Elections, The Backyard Women and Pianissimo.

Website: www.martinabacigalupo.com