Wouter Elsen (Belgium) is a freelance video journalist and photographer.

He has travelled all over the world and is fascinated by people and their stories. Most of the time he has a camera with him.

Wouter lived in Burkina Faso for a while and has made several documentaries on the African continent, working for international news organisations, NGOs and the UNHCR.

It all started with the horrific terrorist attack in Ouagadougou, which he covered for the European Pressphoto Agency. He later worked on various projects for the UNHCR. This gave him the opportunity to work with Touareg refugees in the camps of northern Burkina Faso, an area that's not always easy to cover due to regional security threats.

Wouter Elsen studied journalism in Brussels and international North-South cooperation in Belgium and moved to Burkina Faso in 2015 for two years. He works as a freelance video and photojournalist for Belgian (VRT, MO *) and international media (The Globe and Mail, The New York Times).

Wouter Elsen

Info

Name
Wouter Elsen
Title
Photo- & videographer
Expertise
International Cooperation
Country
Belgium
City
Leuven

Supported projects

Talibé: a childhood dedicated to Allah

  • Youth
  • Education

SAINT-LOUIS - Talibés are students in Senegal who are sent by their parents to specialized Koranic schools. There, however, they are often beaten by rogue Koran teachers. For their documentary, Arne Gillis, Wouter Elsen and Eneas Mentzel followed talibés at school and on the street and talked to Koran teachers and street workers.

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Hope in Haiti's Scorched Earth

  • Environment
  • Politics

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Five years ago, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake—not for the first time. The country was in shatters. Journalists Arne Gillis and Wouter Elsen take a closer look at how the country is doing, five years after the earthquake.

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