VII

Location Midwest, WY, USA
Warsaw, Poland
Paris, France
New York, NY, United States
Yerevan, Armenia
Netherlands
Oslo, Norway
Sarajevo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nairobi County, Kenya
Berkeley, CA, United States
Biography Contact us
Portfolio
Featured Stories

Ilvy Njiokiktjien / Netherlands

Ilvy Njiokiktjien isan independent photographer and multimedia journalist based in the Netherlands. She has worked in many parts of the world, with a focus on Africa. As a news and documentary photographer, she covers current affairs and contemporary social issues. She was born in the Netherlands, and, after leaving school, she studied for a year in South Dakota (USA) before returning home to study journalism and photography. She graduated in2006 and started working as a freelance photographer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, Newsweek, Der Spiegel, STERN,Telegraph Magazine and many others. Her pictures have been exhibited in several museums and photo festivals. After working on a story about right-wing organization KommandokorpsinSouth Africa, she was listed by PDN as one of the ‘30 New and Emerging Photographers toWatch’. She was also named as one of12 participants in the 2012 World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. Accolades include a Canon AFJ Award, two World Press Photo Awards and two POYi’s Awards. In 2013 Ilvy Njiokiktjien became Photographer of the Nation in The Netherlands. In that year she travelled extensively throughout the Netherlands to photograph 100 birthday celebrations. She believes showing the way people celebrate also shows much about their culture. She started her own multimedia company, FROG IN A TENT, together with Dutch Africa correspondent Elles van Gelder.

03-njiokiktjien-001
SOUTH AFRICA - Jano (13) rests on his bed after school. He was the youngest at the Kommandokorps camp. He loves watching rugby, and also plays the game himself. He does not have any black friends, he does not want to anymore.Jano went to the right wing Kommandokorps camp, where an old apartheid Major, Kolonel Franz Jooste, told them that the South African rainbow generation does not exist, and that whites are superior to blacks. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-002
CAPE TOWN, MANENBERG, SOUTH AFRICA - Natalie de Wee (18), wo grew up in the gangster ridden area Manenberg in South Africa, saved up money for several months together with her parents to be able to afford to buy the 200 dollar dress. The upcoming years she will be renting out the dress to other girls graduating high school and having their proms. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-003
WILLISTON / NORTH DAKOTA / USA - Cowboy Robert Thompson (71) on his way to the oil wells that were put on his land. He has a piece of land nearby Williston where oil was found in recent years. Because he and his family own the mineral rights, they receive money from the oil company who pumps the oil to the surface. From October 2013 onwards there will be 10 wells on the land, Thompson will receive a monthly payment of 30.000 dollars. He spends part of it on rodeo bulls, the other part on his pension and on people that don't have enough money to come by. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-004
WAU, SOUTH SUDAN - MARCH 2017: John Francis (12), poses with a mask in the IDP camp in Wau, Western Bahr-el-Gazal, South Sudan. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-005
JOHANNESBURG - People bend their heads as preacher Rudi Swanepoel of the Dutch Reformed Church 'Kruisgemeente' in Melville, Johannesburg, prays in Afrikaans during the sunday afternoon service for Nelson Mandela to go in peace. He also prays for current president Zuma to be strong and use knowledge to lead the people in South Africa during these difficult times. Across South Africa people have been praying for the well being of former president Nelson Mandela. He has been in critical condition in the Pretoria Mediclinic Heart hospital for a month. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-006
SOUTH AFRICA - A young prisoner at the youth prison Leeukop in the north of Johannesburg, South Africa. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-007
HELSINKI, FINLAND: Iraqi and Syrian refugees enjoy the warmth at Sauna Arlan, a traditional Finnish sauna. The refugees stay in the reception centre at Kaarlenkatu, Helsinki, which is close to the sauna. The owner of the sauna, Kimmo Helisto, lets the refugees take showers and use the sauna facilities for free. It is organised by The Red Cross. Finland has been welcoming refugees for several years. In recent months rules have become more strict, because of the influx of refugees entering the country. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-008
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC: Swans, ducks and guls swim underneath the famous Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic on a mild December afternoon. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-009
SOUTH AFRICA - Pretoria's fashion guru Ofentse Lewis of Troublesome Kids. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-010
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - People stand on the road side on to see the hearse carrying Nelson Mandela pass by in the streets of Pretoria. The former president is taken from the Union Building where he was lying in state, to the Military 1 Hospital in Pretoria. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-011
CAROLINA, SOUTH AFRICA - One of the leaders of the right wing Kommandokorps camp in Carolina, South Africa, shows the students how to 'defend' themselves in case of an emergency. Children born after 1994 are part of the Born Free Generation. This generation, born after apartheid, is supposed to bring unity and change to the country. The boys in the photographs all went to the right wing Kommandokorps camp, where an old apartheid Major, Kolonel Franz Jooste, told them that the rainbow generation does not exist. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
DRC CONGO-KINSHASA-FEMALE BOXING
KINSHASA - Sixteen year old homeless Gelvin Samanta's coach puts on her boxing glove. The boxing school only owns two pair of gloves. This one only consists of two right-hand gloves. The boxing school in the centre of Kinshasa teaches homeless women how to defend themselves in the streets. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-013
GREECE, KONITSA, The engagement party of Nasoh (28) and her fiancee Mohammed in their refugee camp. They both dance in a room full of women and children, in the refugee camp of Konitsa, in Greece. Mohammed is the only man in the room. Mohammed and Nasoh, both from Syria, met at the refugee camp. Mohammed was first engaged to another woman, but she ended up as a refugee in Sweden. They were waiting for reunification, but they waited in vain. After 8 months of waiting the woman decided to move on with her life. It broke Mohammeds heart. He tried to get the woman back, but without any luck. Then he met Nasoh, who divorced her husband in Syria. Mohammed and Nasoh fell in love and are hoping to get citizenship in one of the European countries, and live together as a family. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-014
CAROLINA / SOUTH AFRICA - Boys pose in army style under the stars on the last evening of their nine day camp. The kommandokorps camp is organized by self acclaimed 'Kolonel' Jooste, a South African white man who fought in the old apartheid army. He wants to put the white youth up against Nelson Mandela's culturally mixed 'rainbow nation'. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-015
WAU, SOUTH SUDAN - MARCH 2017: Elena Jacob Bilal (65), has been a widow since 1978, she has rheumatism. She arrived in the IDP camp in Wau, Western Bahr-el-Gazal, South Sudan in June 2016, together with her 3 grandchildren Fikri (8), Bernardo (6) en Kilnga (3,5). “When men with weapons attacked our village everyone fled in a different direction. While fleeing I lost the parents of the children out of sight, I don’t have a clue where they are. In the camp live is better than at home. We are safe and the children are healthy. I have been a farmer all my life, but here I can’t do anything, I don’t have land to grow things on. And because of my rheumatism it is difficult to work in any way. I wish I could turn back to our village, but it is too unsafe, I am sure it will take a long time before we get the chance to go back home.” ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-016
JOHANNESBURG - Bulisani Dube (25) of the Twelve Apostels Church includes Nelson Mandela in his prayer on the hill of Yeoville, that overlooks the centre of Johannesburg. Across South Africa people have been praying for the well being of former president Nelson Mandela. He has been in critical condition in the Pretoria Mediclinic Heart hospital for over 3 weeks. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-017
CAPE TOWN, MANENBERG, SOUTH AFRICA - As Lauren-Lee (Lolla) and her prom date walk out of the house everyone cheers at them. The whole neighborhood is standing beneath the rows of clotheslines that run between the two Joyce Court buildings. Everyone wants to see Lolla walk out of the house in her ball gown. Loll grew up in the gangster ridden area Manenberg, in Cape Town South Africa. She wants to finish high school so she can start making a better life for herself and her daughter. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-018
NETHERLANDS: // Cream cakes and paper chains, The Netherlands in a hundred birthdays // The 7th birthday of Sofie de Loo, celebrated in Oterleek, The Netherlands. Sofie's parents hired a party planner, from My Greatest Party. They specifically plan birthday parties for kids. The theme of the party was Marie-Antoinette. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-019
RIETFONTEIN / SOUTH AFRICA - The household help of an Afrikaner family in Rietfontein, South Africa swipes the floor of the living room, while the daughter of the family Tanya (16) relaxes on the couch. The family members do not know the name of their maid, who comes into the house every day (except Sundays), to clean and wash their clothing. She has been working there for years. They call her by making a 'tss tsp' sound. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN
03-njiokiktjien-020
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Students from all around the African continent listen to the speeches of their graduation at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg. The school reaches out to students across Africa to find the ones who have a dream of becoming the new leaders of the future. ILVY NJIOKIKTJIEN