‘What to expect from his Instagram: Florio and his wife, photography and expedition producer Helen Jones-Florio, share their Instagram. It’s a mix of the snapshot travels of two photographers and deep, emotional looks into some of the countries in which they work, from the people of The Gambia to refugees in Malta.’ Read more on AFAR Magazine
Even our tents and canoes, situated by the river over 2 miles away from the mine itself, were covered in a fine film of the pale pink, talc-like dust…
‘A relatively short day’s paddling on the River Gambia today, as we wanted to stop and visit another gold mine in South Eastern Senegal. This stretch of the river is dotted with artisanal gold mines – which draw thousands of migrant workers from all over West Africa: Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, and Senegal itself. All of them hoping to make their fortune. Whole families live in and around the mines, in makeshift villages (rather disconcertingly described as the ‘Wild West‘ of SE Senegal, during our pre-expedition research). All the mines we visited were understandably dusty, but this one, in particular, had an extremely fine, pink-hued, dust which got into absolutely everything. Even our tents, and canoes, situated by the river – over 2 miles away from the mine itself – were covered in a fine film of the pale pink, talc-like dust. But, at least we could pack up our tents and leave the next day, washing away the dust. Many of those people whose lives revolve around the gold mines, for months and years in some cases, aren’t so lucky, as they inhale toxic fumes from the mercury – used to separate the gold from the rock dust…’ Words by Helen Jones-Florio. Read more on the River Gambia Expedition blog.
A short video portrait shot in The Gambia, of Togolese painter Amigoe Dieudonné, who has traveled for over thirteen years around West Africa in his wheelchair, stopping along the way to create extensive bodies of work, which he exhibits and sells to be able to continue his odyssey.
We met Amigo, last year, whilst living in The Gambia, West Africa, at the opening night of our Photos Tell Stories – ‘The Gambia by Gambians‘ – exhibition. He asked us if we would film a short bio, to enable him to approach potential clients and galleries.
A few months ago, true to his independent and ever-inquisitive nature of the past thirteen years, Amigoe decided to make the arduous overland journey to Bamako, Mali, to see if he could expand his artistic career. He recently contacted us to give us some great news – thanks to the Senegalese Chamber of Commerce he, and a select number of other artists, have been given the opportunity to travel to Germany to exhibit their work. Amigoe is currently back in his homeland of Togo, waiting for his new passport.
PHOTOS TELL STORIES - documentary | filmmaking | photography | people | travel 