Jenn Warren. UNHCR trucks transport Congolese refugees and their possessions to the newly created site in Makpandu, Southern Sudan.
What is the most difficult situation you have experienced in your work?
Working with Médecins Sans Frontières is always challenging and emotional. The work that MSF does in the communities they serve is tremendous, and the staff is extremely dedicated. Last year I was commissioned by MSF to visit villages in Southern Sudan that experienced tribal clashes and brutal violence. After collecting testimonies from victims and family members, and photographing the remains of attacked areas, I returned to the MSF hospital to spend some time documenting the doctors and nurses at work. A young girl in a coma was brought in and diagnosed with severe malaria, and the nurses immediately gave her a drip. Shortly thereafter, her grandmother began wailing and I realized that the girl was dying. There was nothing that the nurses or doctors could do, and certainly nothing that I could do besides putting down my camera.
The toughest moment as a photographer is deciding when to stop taking pictures and simply bear witness to a situation you are experiencing with the people you are photographing.
