On boxing day, against all my principles, me, my brother and my dad woke up at 6am to go stand in line at Future Shop for the chance to snag one of the 15 Canon Digital Rebel XL SLR Cameras on sale for a stupid price. A real bargain.
I was well equipped to take all kinds of pictures in Africa. The SLR camera is complemented with a 250 zoom lens with image-stabilizer and glare protection. I also have a pocket canon for those unexpected opportunities to catch a good shot. Needless to say I love taking photos, and was very excited to capture Africa. (Photo: Me working Jimmy the chimp at the Tacugama Sanctuary)Well. The SLR stayed in its bag for a good month or so before capturing any light. And the baby canon has missed many great photo ops for being at home under my pillow. (I try to foil would-be thieves by storing my valuables in my dirty laundry and under my pillow)
Why you ask? In the beginning I just didn’t want to stick out more than I already did by walking around taking pictures of things and people. This is not Disney land or Manhattan. I wanted to blend in as much as possible and not look like a tourist.
But, the deeper reason is this: Sierra Leone is a poor country. Taking photos of poor has a distasteful element unless you are a journalist, a surveyor or scientist. And the people know it. Women don’t want to be photographed at their fruit stands in their work clothes no matter how beautiful I think the scene. Men will question why you are taking pictures of a street lined with garbage and rusted out cars. And so they should. They understand the equation. They feel that the white man is walking through a zoo and they are the attraction. (Photo: Fatama)Now that I’ve been here for a while, I feel much more comfortable taking photographs. But I am very conscience of the relationship between the photographer and the subject. It is difficult to get “the” photo. In Kroo Bay – notorious slum of Freetown –, a place I really would like to capture for friends and family back home, I only felt comfortable to take the camera out once. I got quite a bit of grief from residents passing by. I respected them and put away the camera. Unfortunately, the two shots I did get do not capture the incredible slum built on a garbage dump – with kids and pigs playing in the river and women carrying coal and wood stacked two metres high on their heads.
Kids don’t have this concept in their heads yet. This is all normal to them. This is why I have tons of pictures of kids. And beaches of course. Looking at my photo album, one might think that Sierra Leone is all beach and full of kids. Hahaha. I am on a mission to get a more representative album, while doing my best to respect Sierra Leoneans and their home.
Some random photos from my first few months in Salone...
[Julian prepares dinner] 
[Tacugama Sanctuary worker carries baby chimp]
[Tacugama Sanctuary worker carries baby chimp]
[Tacugama: Chimp reaches under fence to touch keeper's hand]
[Lakka: School kids dress up for special event]
[Kenema: Child hangs out for a 2-day workshop with his mother]
[One of the 2 ferries servicing Lungi airport. The better one]
[Freetown: Krio house with tailor shop]
[Vultures]
[Pulled over by the police]
[Diana or Diane, one of the twins tries out my helmet]
3 comments:
you have the sensitivity,insight, understanding and respect of the SL people...that says volumes about you!
that little girl was my FAVOURITE (one in the 1st photo)! i thought her name was Fatmata?!
Hmmm . . . a much more sensitive and nuanced post. Perhaps I was too hasty in my judgement. :-(
This post shows your blog in a whole new light.
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