Men of M'Balling

• Photographer
  Franz Messenbaeck
• Agency / Studio
  STILLANDLIFE
• Prizes
  Bronze in Fine Art/Portrait

M'Balling is a leprosy village, a village in Senegal at the Atlantic coast south of Dakar. Leprosy belongs to everyday life in M'Balling. The disease is not excluded. The patients live in the village. Together with their families. Most of them lose fingers and toes due to the disease and go blind at a later stage. At first glance visiting M'Balling is like a journey back to the past. But soon the catching lust for life and the cordiality of the people here show, that it is a journey back to the future. Because these men are not outcasts, they live among of patient people and children.