Gordon Welters, Germany

Germany: Two hearts for Clara

Three-year-old Clara is one of 34 children in Germany in need of a donor heart. With a mobile artificial heart that supports her own heart and her cuddly toy duck, 'Schnatter', Clara waits in her room on Ward H4 of the German Heart Center Berlin for the moment when her life will change. It is an almost unimaginable effort for the little girl to endure the daily routine in a clinic - despite all the touching efforts of the nursing staff and an educator who plays with Clara. And despite the visits from parents and grandparents.

Photographer Gordon Welters captured Clara in intimate and sad moments after she had been a resident at the Heart Center for several months.

Photographer: Gordon Welters, Germany (laif agency)

Gordon Welters, born in 1974, studied photo journalism at the University of the Arts London. Telling photographic stories of “being human”, he says, would mean to dig deep and to go to the “often painful limits of experiencing and feeling.” Even confronting death. Welters already looks back on numerous works, published in major national and international media, from GEO Magazine to the New York Times, from NZZ to the Wall Street Journal. His photo series have also been exhibited in many different countries, including Georgia. He also works for several NGOs and foundations.