Young Girls, The Gambia, 2006

Pierre Verger’s portraits in this region were on my mind as we walked onto the beach of this fishing village. It was hard enough to walk into the crowd as the only non-African, but the crowd was more than friendly. After setting up the camera many were curious enough to allow their portraits. 

Etsy 

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Along the Coast, Gambia to Senegal, An Afternoon in February, 2006

After our time in The Gambia and on our way back to Dakar this scene exposed itself along the coast. Our drive back to Dakar was more deliberate in comparison to our ride from Dakar to the interior of The Gambia days beforehand. As we drove north along the coast this quiet village appeared and I asked permission from my two travel companions to stop and make this image.

While most of my work in these two nations comprised of portraiture, making such an image allows me to breathe a little, removed a bit from the hustle of the streets and the need to negotiate always with so many more than just the person desired for the portrait. In this instance we pull over to the right of the road, step outside without another car in sight and set up the tripod slowly while taking in the sounds and smells of the scene. The only movement was attributed to the animals, people were perhaps inside their homes.

We made this image without being questioned, without being pushed along and without being noticed. While I must say that this is pure bliss for me, I know down deep inside that faces will always attract me, that people will always pull me to make their portraits with their kindness, their love and their beauty. Regardless of the heckling of the crowd and the accusations of the neighbors, I will always be attracted to the human face.

I feel however that a balance can be achieved and such images as the one above can provide a moment of solace from which to rise for the stresses of street portraiture. All in all my attraction to the more restricted will always win over, and I will always want to make images of those hiding behind the doors while the rest come running towards the camera, usually the boys of the neighborhood.

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Halim Ina Photography

Young Student, Fence, The Northern Road, The Gambia, 2006

Some I will never see again, and she is one of them.

On our way to the coast from the interior of The Gambia, we stopped at one very small village as children were heading home from school. All of them were standing by the side of the road, under a large tree and in front of this incredibly beautiful fence.

We were outside of our comfort zone, in another country and in front of so many people. With the help of our translator we managed to speak to a few people and organized the children for photography. We used the indirect light of the sun, and the shade of the tree. The background chosen was that sweet fence, and we managed to work for perhaps a half an hour before heading back on our way to the coast.

The previous day our driver decided to change plans, and head to the interior from our agreed upon coastal path to The Gambia. It sounded good to us, we would see more of Senegal and perhaps get some photography accomplished in a spontaneous way. What we thought would be a leisurely drive ended up being a speedy run to the eastern portion of The Gambia, so that we could reach his family's village before nightfall. This seemed to be an amazing coincidence and we soon realized that such was the reason for the change in plans.

Opportunities to photograph whirled by us, and we were just happy to arrive in the middle of the night to our destination. Our driver dropped us off at a motel without a single light in sight, complete darkness, and then headed out to his family's home to stay for the night. We were shown to our separate rooms, my friend and I. The rooms were dark and lit by a single candle. We cleaned ourselves in our rooms and went to sleep quickly before the candles lost their flames.

The next day we woke up for our sixteen hour journey to the coast, a journey the driver thought would take perhaps ten hours. As the manager of the motel saw us get into the compact car, he smiled a bit and expressed his uncertainty at the car's ability to get us to the coast in one piece. We thought he was joking but ended up experiencing the worst road of our trip for the next dozen or so hours.

Along the way this portrait was made, and was worth every single bump, every single bit of grain entering my system through my nostrils and mouth. Looking back today I just laugh at the experience and my reactions to it.

For more images like the one above, please visit the newly designed website below.

Halim Ina Photography