A Star In The Sky by Thomas Lekfeldt (August 24, 2010) 
(28 votes, average: 4.29 out of 5)
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Categories / Documentary Reportage / Human Interest / / Click here to open comments section, click again when done to close / 3 Comments
Introduction by Sophia Greiff
From June 16th to June 20th 2010 the second Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism took place in the city of Hannover. Along with lectures of renowned photographers, panel discussions and portfolio reviews, more than 1400 images were presented in sixty exhibitions. The majority of the displayed work impressed with its high photographic and narrative quality – and opened the eyes for individual tragedies and stories that would have been left unseen without the curiosity and sensitivity of these emerging photojournalists. A story that brought many viewers close to tears was Thomas Lekfeldt’s work A Star in the Sky in which he accompanied the Danish girl Vibe and her family. Vibe was diagnosed with a cerebral tumor at the age of five and died two years later. In sensitive and intimate images Lekfeldt documents a family life between hospitalizations and chemotherapy, joy and sorrow, hope and despair. Capturing this plethora of emotions without the intention of being tear-jerking, Thomas Lekfeldt presented a very touching and emotional series for which he received an Honorable Mention from the festival jury, as well as the Audience Award from the German newspaper Hannoversche Allgemeine.
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Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
Around the world, every year 200,000 children develop cancer. Vibe was one of them.
In June 2007 the five-year-old Danish girl was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Due to the location of the tumor it was not possible to surgically remove it.
Instead, Vibe went through extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. In January 2009 Vibe lost the fight against cancer. At the time of her death she was seven years old.
Children get other types of cancer than adults. For example Leukemia is the most common form of cancer with children, while they almost never get lung cancer or breast cancer.
Brain tumors are the most common type of tumors with children. Every year there are around fourty new cases of brain tumors with children in Denmark.
In the developed countries treatment of child cancer has improved a lot during the last decades, but still cancer is one of the main causes of deaths among children, and the surviving children often have significant side-effects due to the treatment.
Vibe’s father Michael used to say that he would catch the stars in the sky for Vibe if she asked him to. Now he tells her sister that Vibe herself has become one of the stars in the sky.
Thomas Lekfeldt (1977) lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Posted in category 646
Absolutely devastating. May this little angel rest in peace.
[...] Artist Testimonial Thomas Lekfeldt (1977) lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. [...]
I just don’t have any word to describe the feelings. I only wish I could somehow help Vibe’s family, and I would like to give thanks them for sharing those moments. I’m sure Vibe is now one of the stars which let us see the light in the night.