Photography and Orality
Dialogues in Bamako, Dakar and Elsewhere

RESPECT THROUGH REFLECTIONS

Q What is the background to your Reflections series?
IT I started my Reflections series in Saint-Louis in 2010, inspired by the flooding problems in the city at that time. Since I was born in Saint-Louis, this was a subject I felt deeply concerned about. The floods caused major problems for residents, but I didn’t feel comfortable about going out and photographing people. I didn’t want to intrude in their private lives. Then I saw the reflections in the water and I felt that they could serve as a testimony to the floods. In this series, I decided to approach my subject from a visual arts perspective, to draw and paint with light in order to show the daily experience of these people. This series is also intended as a commentary on environmental issues and a way of raising awareness of natural resources. These photos depict nature as a repository of spiritual resources and make a stand against phenomena that threaten this repository. With these photographs, I want to highlight the viewpoint of people in their environment.

I use the medium of photography to explore this subject through a range of artistic languages, while at the same time emphasizing photography’s social role. This series questions the world we live in, on an ecological as well as political, social and spiritual level. Using the effect of light on water, the idea is to move from darkness towards light through the flickering reflections. I show reality while, at the same time, painting distorted forms and dream images; I pose questions and invent playful utopian fantasies. In a sense, the inverted effect of reflections allows us to "reset" reality, and people in particular, because when reflections are photographed, they’re returned to their natural orientation. On top of that, anyone can relate to the images because they don’t show individual identities, giving them a wider reach.

PAINTING WITH PHOTOGRAPHY

Q You are a self-trained photographer and in your work, you combine different artistic genres and means of expression. How did this come about?
IT Photography has allowed me to express myself. The first visual discipline I learned about was painting, so I explored the idea that one can paint pictures using a camera. I love the medium of painting and cameras can be used as a painting tool. After I completed my studies in economics, I took up photography after taking part in a workshop held at the Goethe-Institut as part of the Month of Photography in Dakar in 2009. My work involves installations and photography. I learned about art history through my encounters with visual artists. My aim is to use photography to demonstrate the cross-disciplinary nature of mediums of expression.

GATHERING AND BUILDING A COLLECTION OF IMAGES

Q How did you put together your collection of old photographs?
IT I first became interested in old photo albums when I was a child. I have kept my collection of photos with me ever since then. When I first started working in photography in 2009, I researched the history of African photography and realized that the photos in my collection were part of the history of African photography. I began by collecting photos from my family archives and have added to it with old photos that I come across in my research. In my work, I combine contemporary photography and photographic archives. As a self-trained artist, I continue to build on my personal collection of photographs that I began as a child, which has fuelled my imagination all my life.

A MEMORY AND A VISUAL ARCHIVE

IT Photography can serve as a mirror for people, and this is clearly the case with portraiture. During the 20th century in particular, Saint-Louis had a very active photography scene, as in many other Senegalese cities, thanks to the photography studios. My series entitled Vintage explores our connection with the past and questions the notion of memory and the idea of reminiscence for older generations. This series is composed of old photographs that are loaded with history, personal stories and emotions that embody the passing of time and invite us on a journey back into the past.

Today, these photographs serve as a visual archive, representing memories; they are like artefacts that bear witness to the past. On a personal level, these images captivate my attention and inspire me to give them a second life using an artistic approach that creates a new work. These old photos are a significant facet of the cultural heritage of Saint-Louis, and of Senegal. In this project, I combine archival photos with images of the present day.

SETTING UP A MIRROR IN THE STREET

Q: Why setting up a mirror in the street? Is that an installation for you?
IT I set up a mirror in the street to imitate photography. Passers-by come over to look at the mirror placed on the pavement, as though looking at a photograph. It interests me to see how people are drawn to an image reflected in a mirror. In a sense, photography is like a mirror to us. I see this set-up as a confrontation, through the act of placing the mirror in the street.
Q How does it work? Do you set your mirror up somewhere, and people come over? Do many people come? What happens when they approach the mirror?
IT When I set up the mirror, some people want to approach it and look at themselves. Others simply glance at the mirror as they walk past. What I photograph is what happens afterwards, the environment in which it takes place. That’s because the mirror gives me a sense of my environment, just like a camera. That’s what photography is: it allows me to express myself and, at the same time, to tune into my environment. Mirrors also interest me because I can use out-of-frame techniques. I can explore framing, without using the camera – I can make my images extend beyond the picture frame using a mirror.

ORDINARY AND MYSTERIOUS

Q In your series The Effects of Time, you focus on the subject of memory and its relationship with everyday objects. Do you see photography as an effective medium for observing the passage of time?
IT The Effects of Time series is inspired by very ordinary subjects. To me, everyday subjects are the visual equivalent of "ordinary language". I believe that photography has relied too heavily on "privileged" subjects: famous people, dramatic events, exotic places. In this series, I show the ordinary world, which seems to exist beyond any notion of "indecency" (in the literal sense of the word), using my daily environment as my model. I only require the simplest means to create images that are imbued with mystery, an otherworldliness that is also present and familiar. In this series, I set out to show that photography undermines reality more than it reinforces it. It can convince us to believe anything at all, because it’s possible to give form to all the images we have in our minds. These images subtly describe the complex process of transition from one state to another, from destruction to recreation, disappearance to rebirth, within a context of constant renewal. This series shows us that nature seen through the camera’s lens is not the same as nature seen with the human eye. It presents photographs of "next-to-nothing", of commonplace things, and invites us to slow down and keep hold of moments in time.

STAGING IMAGES USING OBJECTS

Q Can you tell us about the installation you presented at the Goethe-Institut in Dakar [June 2014] on the subject of street wardens?
IT This was a project entitled Guardians of the Temple. I didn’t want to photograph the street wardens themselves, as I didn’t want to intrude in their world. So, I decided to create this installation in which I take the role of myself as an artist, as a warden or guardian of sorts, and to share this experience with these street wardens by doing the same things they do. I gathered together a range of different props and objects that represent the daily lives of street wardens: a chair, matches, a stove, a pot of tea that is always hot. Then I set it all up as an installation.

Interview conducted in Dakar, Librairie Athéna, 20.06.14
by Bärbel Küster and Marion Jäger