Pictures Worth a Thousand Thanks

Dindefelo girls with their finished portraits.

 Maintaining regular updates has been very hard given the (relatively) short amount of time that I am spending in West Africa and the very irregular internet access! I have been away from Segou for about a week now, having left on the 22^nd to travel around the rest of Senegal and get to know the country a bit better. Everyone I meet respects me a little bit more when I say I lived and worked in the Kedougou region for a month – being the farthest part of Senegal, and the poorest, most French and Senegalese haven’t been there.

Teaching the girls how to view the world through a frame as a way to understand how to frame photographs.

The last week and a half in Segou really flew by, because I was determined to finish the photography project that I started. Since there were always little events and problems that got in my way – rainstorms that prevented travel to Dindefelo, the next village over, or lack of communicated between the monitor and the girls to make sure they all attended class – I ended up having about four classes in each location, Segou and Dindefelo. The project had to be modified according to what I thought was possible with up to 40 girls and just me with a camera, and only four sessions, but I am really pleased with the results and I know the girls are, too.

One of the Segou girls' portraits, in the schoolyard with the mountains to Guinea in the background.

The modified photography project consisted of each girl sketching what she wanted her portrait to look like. We talked about what a portrait was, and how framing a photograph changes its meaning entirely. Their sketch was meant to help me take the actual photography according to what each girl wanted; unfortunately, that connection wasn’t super clear so when the time came to take the photographs, most girls just wanted to stay in the schoolyard when they had drawn themselves at home. This may have been because they didn’t want to take me home with them, or because they didn’t make the direct connection. In any case, the second to last class I walked around the schoolyard and village with small groups of girls, taking their portraits according to how they wanted them. I asked them if they wanted a close up, what side of the picture frame they wanted to be in, and what they wanted to be doing in the photograph. As each girl go her turn, I considered having the others there to see the process just as important to understand.

I brought my little printer to my Dindefelo class -- it was very popular.

Then I printed each photograph back at home with my portable printer – the printer and all of the photo supplies made it in one piece, and worked really well for what I needed. (They are now donated to 10,000 Girls, in the hopes that they can use them in the future.) The last class was spent handing out each girls’ portrait and writing about themselves on a piece of construction paper. The English/art lesson continued to the end – as they chose a color for their final portrait, I made each girl say her choice in English (blue, red, orange, etc), which was not as easy as it may seem. Each final portrait was placed into a plastic binder sleeve so that they would be able to hang it up in their huts without worrying about the rain ruining it. When the girls realized that they would be able to keep their portraits, and have a plastic case in addition, their eyes lit up – seeing their excited and grateful reactions about keeping their portraits was all I needed to remind my what I was doing in these tiny villages. 

Hawa Diallo's finished self portrait.

As you can see, the results are fantastic. The portraits themselves stand alone, but I also love seeing what the girls wrote alongside the photographs. I gave them some guidance, of course, and said they could write in English or in French. Each photograph is different, each portrait is different, and each girl is different. Now that I’ve had a week to reflect on my time in Segou, I appreciate the girls the most. Seeing their lives, what they do every day, and understanding their hopes for the future was wonderful. Hopefully I will be able to post more about my time in Segou, and in Senegal in general. For now, though, I am enjoying my beach vacation!

The Segou girls with their finished projects!