Upside Down Tree, Gambia, 2006

On the way back from Banjul, we cross the Gambia River and visit a fort at the mouth of this body of water as it exits into the Atlantic Ocean. We happen to be the only ones and a young man approaches us to act as our guide. He tells us of its history, its transition from protecting the slave trade to helping end it.

When we first arrive, a small van is parked underneath this tree. We move along with the tour and then decide to get back on the road to Dakar. Just at that moment, I notice that the van is gone. The portrait of the 'Upside Down Tree' is made against the backdrop of history.

As our generous guide explains, the British soldiers thought this tree to be a bit odd, with its branches lacking leaves for much of the year. The named it the 'Upside Down Tree' because its branches resembled the roots of a traditional tree. Whether he is telling its history or merely entertaining us matters little, we enjoy his company.

He makes one more point, with the life of this very tree perhaps being over five hundred years old, it stands as a witness to the entire slave trade as it moved in and out of the Gambia River, from its inception to its decline centuries later.

How many lives passed by this tree? How many faces did it bear witness to over the centuries? Was this the last tree that the slaves might have been able to see as they were removed from the continent?

Only this most beautiful of life forms has the answers.

Two Girls, Humana People to People India, 2007

Two girls benefit from their parents' choice to allow them to attend classes for a few hours per day. Their teacher is their neighbor, a person that they trust immensely. In collaboration with Humana People to People India, the school is very much a success, with a mutual respect between students and teacher that is an example for schools universally.

In this portrait, one is married a year after her first portrait is made. This is her first portrait with me after her marriage. She is the one with the shorter blouse, the one with the larger nose piece.

She is now considered a graduate of the school and tends to her new family's chores and responsibilities. In great part to the foundation, she is still allowed to attend the photography and honors me with her presence, her cooperation. Like the rest, they understand that my work is made possible through the foundation. They also understand through the help of the kind translation of my words that my work will continue regardless of their status with the foundation, regardless of whether they graduate from the school. That is of course dependent on their desire to continue.

There is nothing like the face of a person when they know that we make the effort to find them even though their collaboration with the foundation is perhaps at an end. Only then do they realize the full meaning of my work: 'to follow them for life.'

Two Women, Humana People to People India, 2008

These two women are on the cutting edge of their society.

They are working with Humana People to People India, allowing their daughters to attend classes rather than working, at least for a few hours per day. Their girls still do their daily chores, still work outside the hours of their classes. However, they realize the value of an education and have made a decision to begin with the next generation.

They are proud to have their portraits made alongside their daughters, in full view of their village. These portraits represent their third time with my project. Year after year they show up, each time they allow me to continue with my work. They serve tea, sit for hours and watch the photography unfold, watch their daughters giggle and laugh.

They are beginning with the next generation, working with Humana People to People India. For more information and to learn how one can support the foundation's work, the following websites are listed:

halimina.org
humana.org