Team/Artists
Pedro Rosa Mendes
writer
was born in Cernache do Bonjadrin, Portugal in 1968. After his jurisprudence studies, he worked as a journalist, mainly for the daily Público, the Portuguese partner in the Worldmedia syndicate of newspapers, and a reference newspaper in Lisbon.
He reported from conflicts in (in alphabetic order) Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Balkans, Bangladesh, Burma, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sâo Tomé e Principe, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Stefano Ricci
illustrator
Ines John
writer
Ines John was born in 1977 in Brandenburg, Germany. She studied political science, history and sociology with a focus on conflict theory and human rights. Ines works as a freelance copywriter and assists companies with press activities and public relations. She is passionate about documentary photography and graphic novels. „Black.Light has the power to overcome the limits of cognition and create new ways of understanding. This project is so outstanding in 100 different ways – it’s a book that belongs on every bookshelf or bedside table,“ she says.
Kirsten Rian
coordination, USA & Africa
was born in Portland, Oregon, USA in 1967, and is the author of Kalashnikov in the Sun (Pika Press), an anthology of Sierra Leonean poetry.
She also co-authored the anthology, Walking Bridges Using Poetry as a Compass (Urban Adventure Press). Her writing has appeared in numerous photography monographs, newspapers, magazines, and international literary journals. An independent photography curator and book editor for 20 years, she has coordinated more than 375 exhibitions, and 75 books and catalogues.
Dieter Jüdt
illustrator
was born in Feuchtwangen, Germany in 1963. He studied Illustration and Graphic Design at the Trier University of Applied Sciences. Nowadays he is primarily known for his regularly illustration work for German newspapers and magazines like Süddeutsche Zeitung, TAZ and mare. He has released four graphic novels – most recently „Das große Rauschen“ – and one children book. His comic-work has been nominated twice for the award of the „Best German Graphic Novel.” He’s a member of the international artist group Poste Aérienne and editior of „45 – A Single Cover Album.”
David von Bassewitz
illustrator
was born in Giessen, Germany in 1975. He studied Cinematography at Erlangen University and Illustration at the University of Applied Sciences in Wuerzburg, Germany. His drawings are published in DER SPIEGEL, Die Zeit, stern, Le Nouvel Observateur, The New Scientist, BBC History Magazine, Sciences et Avenir, Jung von Matt, Grabarz&Partner, SidLee Montreal, Birkhaeuser Verlag, HoerBild Verlag, Luerzer´s Archive: The world´s 200 best illustrators, Die Automate-Hoerbild Verlag, Licht für Städte-Birkhaeuser Verlag, ADC Sushi-Magazin, Freistil, 3×3 Magazine, and Taschen: Illustration Now. He was awarded with the ADC Auszeichnungen, Golden Award of Montreux, Silver Lion of Cannes, and Le Grand Prix de la Bande Dessinée Européenne.
Benjamin Flao
illustrator
was born in Nantes, France in 1975. When he was 14 years old, Flaó left state school to enroll at the École d’arts Graphiques de Saint-Luc in Tournei, near the Belgian capital of Brussels. Two years later he joined the École de Graphisme Publicitaire in his home town of Nantes. In 1994 he went to Lyon in order to specialize in comics, cartoons and illustrations at the famous École Emile Cohl. Under the pseudonym Hekel & Jekel Flaó led jointly by YanNick Chambon varied illustrational works such as murals, caricatures and graffitis. In 2003 Flaó won with his travel diary about the Mammuthus Expedition of Siberia the Travel-Book-Price of the Biennial Lonely Planet in Clermont-Ferrand, central France. Since 1998, Flaó undertook several motorcycle travels through Africa, especially Burkina Faso and Eritrea, which he documented through drawings.
Philipp Schaper
public relations & exhibition
was born in Hannover, Germany in 1980. He studied History and Political Science at Leibniz University of Hannover and had an emphasis at interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence. Schaper is working as a reporter at the local daily newspaper Neue Presse in Hannover.
Wolf Böwig
photographer
was born in Hannover, Germany in 1964. He studied mathematics and philosophy at the TFH and the FU both at Berlin. In 1988, he became a war photographer.
His reports are published in du, Expresso, Facts, Guardian, Internationale, Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatic, Lettre International, Liberation, LFI, NY Times, NZZ, mare, Publica, Stern, taz, The Independent, and Visao.
He reported from conflicts in Afghanistan, Balkans, Bangladesh, Burma, Cuba, DRC, Ethiopia, France, Guinea Bissau, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Zambia.
Danijel Žeželj
illustrator
was born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1966. Žeželj studied classical painting, sculpting and printing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. His comics and illustrations have been published by DC Comics/Vertigo, Marvel Comics, The New York Times Book Review, Harper’s Magazine, San Francisco Guardian, Editori del Grifo, Edizioni Charta and others. In 2001 in Zagreb, he founded the publishing house and graphic workshop Petikat. Four years later he became the first comic book artist ever to have a solo exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. His work has been published and exhibited in Croatia, Slovenia, UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Sweden, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and the USA.
Christoph Ermisch
layout, design, website
was born in Varel, Germany in 1965. He studied Industrial Design at Fachhochschule Hannover and Brunel University of London. He is a member of the design group METAmoderne. Since 1998 he has worked as a communication designer at ermisch | Büro für Gestaltung based in Hannover.
He is working – from conception to realization – on all facets of the Blacklight Project, the exhibitions, corporate identity, multimedia, and internet presence.
Thierry van Hasselt
illustrator
was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1969. Van Hasselt teaches the subject Comics at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts St-Luc in Brussels, where he also studied. His main focus is graphic-specific literature. Together with Vincent Fortemps he founded the Belgian comic book publisher Fréon, which merged in 2002 with the French publishing house Amok to Frémok. For his first album, Gloria Lopez in Angoulême, he was awarded the Prix Etranger Alph’Art. In 2009 he was one of the co-authors of the book Game of Catch at Vielsam which Frémok published in cooperation with handicapped artists of the ECC Hessen. Van Hasselt cooperates for his work extensively with the choreographer Karine Pontier or the writer Mylène Lauzon.
George Pratt
illustrator
was born in Beaumont, United States in 1960. He studied at the Pratt Institute in New York, and since has worked as an illustrator for various art and comic books, including Batman, Sandman, magazines, and exhibitions. His most successful work was his interpretation of the Enemy-Ace stories from DC-Comics. His graphic novel Enemy Ace: War Idyll, published in 1989, was highly decorated with numerous industry awards. He illustrated for Marvel Comics the series Wolverine: Netsuke for which he was awarded the Eisner Award at Comic-Con International in 2003.