Jan-Joseph Stok

Boy Scouts of Africa, Congo 2007

Born in Holland in 1978, Jan-Joseph Stok spent most of his childhood in France. At the age of 18 he returned to his home country to study photojournalism for three years at the Foto Academie in Amsterdam. While working as a freelance photographer he was wounded in an attack near Kosovo and decided to return home, with the goal of acquiring more knowledge and expertise about the world. Stok has completed freelance assignments for international magazines and newspapers and has traveled regularly to Africa to work for a variety of international NGO’s. In January 2006, he was awarded “Best Photojournalist  of the Year Under 30” in the Netherlands and the Canon Prize. During 2006, Stok was based in London for one year, where he continued to work as a freelance photographer while completing a Masters in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication.

About the Photograph:

“I made this  photograph of the Boy Scouts of the Congo playing in the forest. Being a boy scout is a good way for the young people to avoid  joining rebel groups in the Congo. It gives them a feeling of belonging in a postive way of life. My work in Africa aims to reveal the details of peoples lives and not simply concentrate on hard news. My aim is to look deeper into the lives of often neglected people and the facets of society that few people seem to care about.”