The Gambia – And, the rains came down, and down, and down…

@floriophotos – footage ©Helen Jones-Florio

Photography Daily Show Podcast – talking Instagram, and Gambia Doors

Huge thanks to Neale James at Photography Daily Show Podcast, for inviting me to talk about using Instagram for my Gambia and Malta doors and storefronts series.

Podcast #251 INSTAGRAM: LOVE, HATE, NEED, WANT and and and…

Listen to the Podcast

Serigne Touba Doors, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa architecture © Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – Serigne Touba Doors, Banjul, The Gambia © Helen Jones-Florio

@doors_helenjonesflorio

I adore the project…probably because it’s exactly the one I would have loved to have started myself. Neale Jame-Photography Daily Show

#DisappearingMalta – ‘Universal Store’, Valletta, Malta – photography prints by Helen Jones-Florio

Buy #GambiaDoors & #DisappearingMalta Photography Prints from helenjonesflorio online gallery

Helen Jones-Florio

Photography | Videography | Production 

#GambiaDoors & #DisappearingMalta

Gambia Doors – the series. Photography by Helen Jones-Florio

Gambia Doors – the (ongoing) series. Photography by Helen Jones-Florio. Prints available to purchase at helenjonesflorio.com online gallery.

I have been working on this particular series – #GambiaDoors – for many years. The vividly coloured, unintentionally quirky doors and storefronts from the West African country of The Gambia never fail to grab my attention. My husband, Florio, is now well-versed in my random, oft-shouted, ‘Stop!’ in his ear while we are zooming around on the motorcycle. In fact, he now engages in a little door spotting on my behalf. Conversely, over the years, I have also managed to startle several unsuspecting local taxi drivers.

#GambiaDoors - the closed frontage of a tailor shop with a pile of remnant fabric, and an old toilet, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘The Tailoring Shop’, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

“But why do you want to photo my shop?”

“But why do you want to photo my shop?”, is the question most frequently asked of me from baffled shopkeepers. After 20 plus years of living and working in the region, what may be considered quotidian to many of those shopkeepers, continues to be striking and wondrous to me. Enough to ‘stop!’ me in my tracks (or put the breaks on). 

#GambiaDoors: Doors and Storefronts of The Gambia, West Africa - barber shop storefront showing hand-painted hairstyles. Image © Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors: ‘The Standard Barber Shop Hair Stilist’, Serrekunda. Image © Helen Jones-Florio

Something is captivating about the misspelled, hand-painted, English-as-we-don’t-know-it, signage – the vivid and the faded paintwork, alike. Barbershops and beauty salons signs are a particular favourite. Ultimately, they make me smile.

#GambiaDoors - hand-painted beauty salon,'Juste Nails Bash' beauty shop, Serekunda, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Juste Nails Bash‘ beauty shop, Serekunda, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

#GambiaDoors

#GambiaDoors - blue metal doors of a workshop, with hand painted telephone numbers, and an old car seat standing outside the closed doors, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Workshop Tea Break’, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

@doors_helenjonesflorio

All of the #GambiaDoors images are available to purchase as photography prints, from our online gallery

helenjonesflorio.com online gallery

#GambiaDoors - the front of a shipping container, hand painted with faces, and the words'Black Light, Tanji, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Black Light’, Tanji, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

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#GambiaDoors - a brightly coloured curtain blows in the doorway of a local bar, a Becks beer sign above the door, painted red with Coca Cola written on the wall, Banjul, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors -‘Come Inn’, local bar in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors - the shop front of a local beauty salon in Serrekunda, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Classic Beauty Salon’, Serrekunda, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio

See more of the series @doors_helenjonesflorio and the helenjonesflorio.com gallery site.

Feel free to contact me here if you have any questions, or use the Contact Form on the gallery website.

Helen Jones-Florio

#GambiaDoors & #DisappearingMalta

Helen Jones-Florio, sitting on the doorstep of an abandoned house, Malta. Image by Jason Florio
Photographer/Videographer, Helen Jones-Florio, Birkirkara, Malta (#DisappearingMalta doors & storefronts). Image by Jason Florio

River Gambia Photography Prints by Jason Florio

River Gambia Photography Prints by Jason Florio – limited edition fine art prints are available to purchase at helenjonesflorio.com online gallery.

Ladies from the Santa Yalla kaffo - a collective that harvests rice for a landowner near River Gambia at Kaur. The earn 30 dalasis a day - 80 US cents ©Jason Florio
River Gambia Photography Prints by Jason Florio ‘Rice Ladies’ ©Jason Florio

‘River Gambia’

A woman checks her traps on the River Gambia, Senegal, in the early hours of the morning, West Africa. Image ©Jason Florio
River Gambia Photography Prints by Jason Florio ‘Catch of the Day’

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River Gambia Photography Prints by Jason Florio: A man's hands cupping water from the Source of River Gambia, Fouta Djallon, Guinea
River Gambia Photography Prints by Jason Florio: ‘The Source’ of River Gambia, Fouta Djallon, Guinea
The River Gambia – source-sea – from the Fouta Djallon Highlands, Guinea, into Senegal, and onto The Gambia, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean

December 2012 – January 2013 – My wife, Helen Jones-Florio, and I co-led the first recorded source-to-sea expedition along the length of River Gambia, from its humble source in the remote highlands of Guinea, through Senegal and into The Gambia where it widens to nearly 14km and exits into the Atlantic Ocean. We teamed up with two old Gambian friends, Abdou Ndong a fisherman and Ebou Jarju a school teacher, as our river guide and translator. River Gambia is one of the major arteries into West Africa from the Atlantic Ocean. First penetrated in 1455 by Portuguese explorers, fought over by the French and British, and traveled up by Scottish explorer Mungo Park on both his attempts to seek the course of the River Niger…Jason Florio – read more

River Gambia Photography Prints by Jason Florio: ‘Bonto Pier Solitude’

A selection of the River Gambia images are currently being exhibited at Photo Swindon – runs through 29th July, 2021

Photo Swindon International Photography Exhibition - 1st July-3rd October, 2021. Boys with painted faces stand looking at the camera, by the River Gambia, West Africa - advertisement for Photoswindon photo exhibition. Image ©Jason Florio
Photo Swindon International Photography Exhibition: Young boys pose for a portrait on the banks of River Gambia in Senegal. They said they had painted their faces like skulls for their own amusement. Image ©Jason Florio ‘River Gambia Expedition – 1044km source-sea African odyssey’

CURRENT LOCATION: United Kingdom – July 2021

Assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here