非洲，單幅照片

Lee-Ann Olwage

南非籍，生於1986年

大量遺忘

2022年10月27日，在迦納甘巴加，「女巫營地」的住民圍繞著端坐的營地領袖Sugri Zenabu。Zenabu已開始顯露出一些罹患失智症的跡象，如精神混亂與記憶力衰退。

隨著人類壽命延長，失智症在迦納及其它非洲國家逐漸成為公共衛生與社會文化問題。公眾缺乏對此疾病的認知，這使得顯露出症狀的女性會被視為女巫。在迦納，這些女性就被送進一個稱為「女巫營地」的地方。

此為Lee-Ann Olwage的個人拍攝計畫，她試圖藉此讓大眾注意到非洲大陸上時常被忽略的議題——失智症。此計畫得到Bob & Diane基金資助，發表於德國週刊《Der Spiegel》的網站。

Africa, Singles category

Lee-Ann Olwage

South African, born 1986

The Big Forget

Sugri Zenabu, a mangazia (female community leader) of the Gambaga “witch camp”, sits encircled by residents in Gambaga, Ghana, on 27 October 2022. Zenabu shows some signs of confusion and memory loss associated with dementia.

As life expectancy rises, dementia is increasingly becoming a public health and socio-cultural issue in Ghana and across Africa. Lack of public awareness of behavior associated with the condition means that women displaying symptoms are sometimes perceived as witches. In Ghana, they may be sent away to live in so-called “witch camps”.

Lee-Ann Olwage’s personal project, which attempts to bring attention to often overlooked stories about dementia from the African continent, was published in Der Spiegel and supported by the Bob & Diane Fund.