Youtube: Forest Festival, Koudioubé village, Senegal, West Africa

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Videography: Jason Florio & Helen Jones-Florio for Concern Universal, The Gambia & Senegal, West Africa – click image or here to view

 

Earlier this year, we traveled a short distance across the border,  south of The Gambia (where we have been based for the last 8-9 months),  into the Casamance region of Senegal – on assignment for a local NGO, Concern Universal, who we have  worked with on previous projects.  The purpose of this assignment was to document a celebratory forest festival in the village of Koudioubé – a juddering, hold-onto-anything-fixed-down and mind-your-head-whilst-you’re-at-it,  20 minute drive on a deeply rutted ‘road’ (which, we were told by the driver, is often  impassible during a heavy rainy season) through the bush, from the small town of Diouloulou.

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Woman collects dead wood only (no trees are cut down for this purpose) in the protected forest area of Koudioubé – image © Jason Florio

 

What the villagers have achieved – in a region where, for 30 years, communities have been broken apart by civil war, and forests have been decimated – is truly uplifting…

‘Local orginazation, ASIPID, a partner of Concern Universal, came up with the idea to the peace and save the remaining forests… .

The Koudioubé Community Forest – managed by four communities, was the first to be protected. It’s regeneration has been a source of celebration for the community. Then this grew to 8 more communities, who have set up community forests. Now many more want to follow...’ (read more on the video) – CU, The Gambia & Senegal.

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‘The Agomalah’ – traditional masquerade – comes to the Koudioubé Forest Festival. Image © Jason Florio

 

To find out more about traditional masquerades (as pictured above) in West Africa, you may like to read about our new multimedia project, on this very subject – which we will continue to  work on when we return to West Africa –  here.

Coming next, Part 2 of ‘An anthology – photographs by Jason Florio‘

The Florios – Helen & Jason

 

Photos Tell Stories – an anthology, Part 1 – photographs by Jason Florio

In November, 2013,  before we headed down to The Gambia, West Africa, to present our first ‘Photos Tell Stories‘ photography workshops, Jason was invited to exhibit his award winning portraits of village chiefs, ‘Silafando‘ – taken whilst on our ‘Short Walk in the Gambian Bush –930km African odyssey‘ – at the Athens Photo Festival (APhf:15), Greece, along with presenting a slideshow of his work –  which spans over fifteen years.

As a photographer, his work has taken him around the world – covering a wealth of subject matter.  Therefore,  it was a tough edit for him. However, his time on the stage at APhf was limited – which helped somewhat, in narrowing down what he had time to show.

All of the following photographs tell a story… many of which are just as relevant in today’s world, as they were when originally shot.

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All images © Jason Florio

Image# 1-5 – ‘Two Short Walks‘  Afghanistan, 2000 & 2001

Image# 6-9 – ‘New York City – 09.11.2009‘

Image# 10-14 – ‘Human Terrain‘ Afghanistan, 2009

Image# 15-17 – ‘Ghosts of the Civil Dead‘ Ethiopia, 2006

Image# 18-21 – ‘This is Libya‘, 2004

An anthology, Part 2, coming soon.

If you would like to receive updates, simply add your email address in the box in the left hand column.

Helen & Jason Florio

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L-R: Janneh, Jason Florio, Alkalo (village chief), Dadi Bah, Helen Jones-Florio – taken whilst on ‘A Short Walk in the Gambian Bush’  expedition, 2009

 

P.S. More news too on the new projects we’ll be carrying in with when we head back down to West Africa on a few weeks… soon.

 

 

Photographing Gambian masquerades with Jason Florio… and an audience

Work in Progress.

We can hardly wait to get back down to West Africa, to carry on working on our personal projects – one of which is a photographic anthology of the traditional masquerades of The Gambia, West Africa.

As a photography producer,  my work takes place behind-the-scenes of assignments, ensuring that everything runs as smoothly as possible for and during shoot days –  often a lengthy process from pre through to post production.  Perks of the job? Watching Jason Florio at work – his knack of putting all those he works with so quickly at ease is continually inspiring – you can see, from the end results, how well he does this. There is another aspect of our work together, which I enjoy in equal measure – watching the fascination, amusement and, often, bemusement on the faces of those people you don’t see in the final edit… those outside of the frame.

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The ‘Cumpo’ warms up – Casamance, Senegal

 

Image © Jason Florio - the 'Cumpo' in full swing - Casamance, Senegal
Image © Jason Florio – the ‘Cumpo’ in full swing – Casamance, Senegal

 

Light reflecting - Kembujeh village, The Gambia
Light reflecting – Kembujeh village, The Gambia

 

A sneak peek 'Small Devil' masquerade © Jason Florio - Kembujeh village, The Gambia
A sneak peek ‘Small Devil’ masquerade © Jason Florio – Kembujeh village, The Gambia

 

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Don’t get too close to the ‘Fairies’! Banjul, The Gambia

 

Here comes the bride - Banjul, The Gambia
Here comes the bride – Banjul, The Gambia

 

On guard! Banjul, The Gambia
On guard! Banjul, The Gambia

 

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There is a photographer somewhere in this photograph – Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa

 

There is always time to interact with the kids - Kembujeh village, The Gambia
There is always time to interact with the kids – Kembujeh village, The Gambia

 

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Locals stay well clear of ‘The Hunter’ – Kembujeh village, The Gambia

 

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Street photography -Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa

 

Jason's camera is loaned to a budding photographer - from a Malian masquerade group, Banjul, The Gambia
Jason’s camera is loaned to a budding photographer – from a Malian masquerade group, Banjul, The Gambia

 

I do, however, think that I can safely add ‘security person’ to my résumé now – when on so many of our shoots, I regularly have to keep thirty curious kids from jumping in front, gesticulating madly (double thumbs up, gangsta style backwards peace sign, and smart military-like salutes, being the top three), of Jason’s lens!

 

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A very typical scenario on our shoots in West Africa – these kids were determined to get in on the action! @Helen Jones-Florio/Expedition Africa

 

If you would like to receive updates, simply add your email address to the box in the left hand column of this page – you may also like to check what we are up to on FB, twitter, and Instagram

Thanks for stopping by

Helen Jones-Florio

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Hanging out with the ‘Fairy’ Masquerade, Banjul, The Gambia © Jason Florio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Foley 1973-2014

 

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Image courtesy of James Foley FB page

 

The second tragic loss to our RISC family this year – an immensely sad time, indeed. Much love and support to Jim’s family. 

Jason & Helen Florio 

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Back row: 2nd from the left, grey t-shirt, Jim Foley (R.I.P.); center, black t-shirt, Jason Florio; 7th from the right, green t-shirt, Matthew Power (R.I.P 1974-2014). The inaugural RISC training course – Bronx Documentary Center, NY, 2012 – image courtesy of the RISC website