Bogside by Henning Christoph

Bogside

Photo Stories, second prize stories

1969

Life of the unemployed, the elderly and the children in the Bogside, the Catholic neighborhood in Derry, Northern Ireland, during the beginning of ‘The Troubles’, the violent conflict between unionists and loyalists over the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Tensions between residents of the Bogside, allied under the Derry Citizens’ Defence Association, and the police (the Royal Ulster Constabulary), were building in Derry for over a year before a very large communal riot broke out in August 1969, which became known as the Battle of the Bogside. This riot is commonly seen as one of the first major confrontations in ‘The Troubles’.

Location: Derry/Londonderry, Northern-Ireland, UK

Photo Credit: Henning Christoph

Henning Christoph (Grimma, Germany, 1944) emigrated to the United States with his family in 1950. In 1960, he sold his first news photo - a picture of a fight at a soccer game - to the Washington Daily News, which made the front page. He studied anthropology and journalism at the University of Maryland in Washington D.C.. After graduating in 1967, Henning Christoph returned to Germany to study photography with Prof. Otto Steinert at the Folkwangschule in Essen, before starting a freelance career as a photographer in Germany. Since 1969, Christoph has been working for international magazines such as Life, National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, Geo and Stern.

As anthroplogist, Henning Christoph is specialized in the history, art and culture of Africa, in particular magic, healing and voodoo rituals and practices. He published several photo stories, books and films about voodoo. In 2000, he founded the Soul of Africa Museum in Essen, Germany, which is dedicated to magic, healing and voodoo practices in Africa.