Warriors

12 photo collages, 32×45 cm, 2022

A number of photographic investigations was carried out as a response to the ecologic situation around the city of Saint Louis, Senegal. The rising sea level as well as river floods threaten the city whose main part is located on an island which is protected towards the ocean by a sandy spit called the Langue de Barbarie. In 2003 a 4 m breach was opened in the sand spit with the hope to alleviate the issues, however, the breach has since extended to 6 km and caused major disturbances in the fragile eco systems.



The collages are based on photos of debris, seemingly inert material found in the tidal area, such as parts of dead sea animals, plants or man-made objects. The series plays with proportions and repetitions. While concentrating the work on this particular terrain, the poor waste management was difficult to ignore, but rather than focusing on it, the series is suggesting new life forms. The collages reflect on survival, how we are part of nature, and that eventually also the plastic will become part of us.

The series forms part of a larger body of work called Wretched Ground that was initiated at a residency at Waaw in Saint Louis, Senegal. The collages were exhibited at Chez Dasso in Saint Louis within the frame of the OFF programme of the Dakar Biennale in May 2022.