One more reason…
November 19, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
I probably SHOULDN’T be so surprised about this, but it never ceases to amaze me that with how actually in-touch with the rest of the world Dakar is—most households have a TV, listen to some Western music and watch a lot of American movies—they still manage to hold on their culture. Especially in music. The Music TV transitions between Usher and a West African musician as easily as some people change lanes on an empty six-lane highway. And the Senegalese musicans get airtime on local TV with their videos, which are most often in Wolof, not French. Here’s a pretty song/video.. Suma Reree by Naby. It’s your basic mushy love song, and someone told me he’s saying that if he’s ever lost, it’s because he can’t find his girl. Oh, and this was shot in Dakar…
Who knew?
November 18, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Phosphate factories are pretty, too.
Dakar in Seven Days
November 17, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
last week I was running all around the city, all day long, shooting for a business book on Senegal. It was a great (if exhausting) way to spend my last full week for at least three months in this city I heart so much… so this week I’ll post some of my faves from the job… I doubt any of these below will make it in the book, but I love them.
Working the night shift
November 12, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Driving back from a factory shoot yesterday, I took some of these shadow shots. They will of course be added to my silhouette series. They were all taken from a moving car with a low shutter speed, so there’s a bit of a blur in most. But sometimes life’s a bit of a blur, yes?
Within the middle of traffic, there’s always someone winding through the traffic jams. Whether it’s women selling fruit, men selling cashews or a young boy asking for change….
Power Outages
November 7, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 4 Comments
It’s getting hot again in Senegal for some reason (last week was nice and cool). And the heat can only mean one thing—power outages!
There’s nothing like taking cold showers by candle light three nights in a row. Yesterday, Theo was trying to study and Naomi and I were chatting after a long, hard day of freelance work. And by that I mean many emails telling editors around the world all about our fabulous story ideas. Brilliant. Here’s what it looks like in a Dakar apartment with a power outage. Don’t say I’m not doing my part to conserve energy.
Real Americans in Senegal: Non-partisan ramblings
November 4, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Rambling 1: On Sunday I got on the Internet to watch John McCain’s appearance on SNL. As I listened to him playfully mock his poll numbers, I had an “Wow, my country is great.” Moment. The fact that here was this man, possibly the next president of the United States, and there he was poking fun at a weakness. I’ve done stories in West Africa about journalists who are imprisoned because of slightly negative stories they do about their governments. Some of them disappear for years. Some are killed. There’s a stark contrast there between freedom of speech that cannot and should not go un-noticed.
Living abroad gives you a more critical eye of your own country. It makes yourrealize where things can improve, but it also gives you a greater appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy. Often, people ask me if I appreciate things more about the US now that I’ve lived in Africa, but they’re often asking about material things. And of course, I would love to go down the street and get a Sugar-free Frappacinno right about now, but more importantly, it’s humbling to realize that so many people in the world don’t have the same rights you do.
I know the phrase is Proud to be American, but it’s hard for me to be proud of something I don’t feel like I earned. I AM proud of my country. But as for me, I guess I just feel LUCKY to be American.
Rambling 2: Today I was trying to talk to a Senegalese doctor about his program for children with AIDS. He wasn’t really opening up, until he found out I was American.
“Oh! Are you watching the elections today? Who do you want to be president?” After we talked about the election for a few minutes, he was for some reason so much more willing to discuss his hospital programs (though this has almost always been my experience in Senegal. When they find out you’re not French, and you reply, ‘No, I’m American,” the Senegalese get much more friendly. To me anyways.)
Later on in the day, I walked into a Senegalese preschool. There was an American flag at the door with a poster of pictures of both McCain and Obama.
“Do you know that flag?” asked the 4-year-old whom I was there to help pick up from school.
“Of course I do Mya—I’m American!”
“Oh.. Reeeaaallly? Who are you voting for?”
Rambling 3: I’d love to be in the US for the election, but it’s also amazing to be abroad. It’s weird to see so many people in the world care about your election. When I was talking to that German journalist in the Madrid airport, he asked me about this November 4.
“You know, whoever you elect DOES affect us. That’s the thing.” He said. And he’s right.
And to be in Africa while the first black man might get elected. Some Senegalese are sure he will be assassinated right away. Some see it as Martin Luther King’s dream come true. In this world where we like to say we’ve come so far in regards to race, it’s hard to not wonder if we have a lot further to go. Being white in Senegal automatically means you have more. More money. More freedoms (I can go to Europe, the US, Asia, without worrying about visa problems. Of course, this has to do with being American, too.)
Rambling 4: Why is Barack ALWAYS referred to as a black man? His mom is white. I asked Naomi, who is a white woman married to an African man, if she will consider her children black.
“In America, they will be considered black,” she answered bluntly and honestly, but also without worry or concern. Just an assessment of what she knows society to be.
I guess I wish, and this might sound a bit corny, but one day we could just be who we are. I could be Ricci. Naomi’s husband is Theo. Sarah Palin’s not a woman. She’s Sarah Palin. Barack Obama is Barack Obama. Not black. Or Half-white. Just who we are, based on what we do. Not what we look like or where we come from.
Rambling 5: Of course, here in Dakar, there are no ballot boxes and election-day waiting lines. But Americans get their absentee ballots and mail them into their home states or districts. Here’s some photos of Naomi casting her vote, while she shows her new husband Theo how it’s done. Plus, Theo took some photos of us being pro-democracy and loving our country.
NOTE: I did not mean to look like a revolutionary in these photos. I had just come back from a shoot at a dusty hospital and had not had a chance to clean up yet, lest you think I cast my vote for Che Guevera or something.
work
November 3, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Shooting for UNICEF takes some time, but it usually lands me in intimate situations and face-to-face with a lot of the problems the Senegalese bear. As of recently, I’ve been shooting about mother’s health, and mother’s facing poverty and some kiddies’ hand-washing efforts.
On Friday, I met Awa. Awa works 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a baby on her back, and three more kids waiting for her at home. She works at a restaurant and sells juice that she makes by hand every evening. (Note: She is now my official ginger juice supplier).
And here’s a photo of some school kids using their new hand-washing facilities…
