Follow us on Instagram @floriotravels: travel, documentary, reportage, fine art photography – all images © Jason Florio & Helen Jones-Florio
PRESS: The families migrants leave behind – IRIN
Whilst on the MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) Phoenix, documenting the migrant and refugee boat rescues in the Mediterranean, off the Libyan coast, a couple of months ago, Florio, met a young man, Lamin, from The Gambia, West Africa; a country which we had, at that point, been living in full time for over a year and a half. For Florio, he was meeting someone from a place we have considered to be our second home for many, many years. And, one can only imagine Lamin’s surprise when, upon boarding the rescue dingy to be transported to the Phoenix, he was not only met with a big, friendly smile but also welcomed by a ‘toubab‘, greeting him in his own language, Mandinka!
Once safely on the Phoenix, Florio spent the remainder of the journey to Italy talking with Lamin about his harrowing journey, from West Africa to Libya. When it was time for the Lamin and the others to disembark in Italy, he gave his cell number to Lamin, making him promise to make contact with him when he could get the use of a phone again (Lamin, along with everyone else he was rescued with, had been robbed of everything of value by the people smugglers they had paid, in Libya, before being pushed onto an overcrowded, woefully un-seaworthy, small boat: their papers, cell phones, and money, all taken). In return, Florio promised to make contact with Lamin’s family, to let them know he was alive and safe.
A couple of weeks later, Florio got a call from Lamin, who is now in Italy (coincidentally, we just found out that Lamin has now been joined by a very old friend of ours, another young Gambian man, who had gone ‘the back way‘. However, that’s another story… ), waiting for his papers to allow him to move on. Collaborating with a friend, investigative journalist Louise Hunt, who was also living in The Gambia then – and who has been researching and writing about the plight of West African migrants – the following interview came about, via IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks).
‘Mohammed Lamin quit his job, borrowed money from his brother, and left the Gambia for Europe via the “back way” – the highly dangerous overland route to Libya through the Sahel, and then on to Europe on a smuggler’s boat...’ Words by Louise Hunt for IRIN – read the full article here.
Machete Boy, traditional masquerades, The Gambia, West Africa
‘The three boys turned up with a couple of rice sacks, a bunch of leafy branches, and what looked like a few scraps of bright red fabric. Within half an hour, they were transformed into Kankurangs, and fully in character – jiggling branches, menacingly clashing machetes together… ‘ Read more here
Related Posts:
‘Photo Shoot Location – Watch our for the crocodiles‘
‘Masquerades’ West Africa
Looking back: Gambian photography students learn the art of portraiture with Jason Florio
I just had a conversation with one of my sisters, who told me that my young nephew is about to study photography at school, and that his first powerpoint was going to be about my co-instigator in all things photography (from our expeditions – photography workshops), Jason Florio. Looking back, for links on here that might be of interest to my nephew, took me to the ‘Photos Tell Stories: teaching photography – a visual language‘ (P.T.S.s) workshop posts; all about when we held a number of photography workshops, around The Gambia, West Africa (thanks to a grant from the US Embassy, Banjul), with young Gambian students.
We are still so immensely honored to have had the opportunity to hold the workshops, and particularly proud of the level of work our young students produced – despite 99% of them having never even used a camera.
I just wanted to re-share this – especially for my nephew, Harry. Maybe one day, he’ll be the one teaching photography workshops somewhere in West Africa.
Enjoy!
Helen Jones-Florio
2014: ‘Photos Tell Stories‘ photography workshop #1: The Kombos region, The Republic of The Gambia, West Africa – students were chosen from various senior secondary schools in the region
The students spent most the first day in the classroom with Jason Florio, P.T.S.’s photographer and tutor, where he covered the following topics: a brief history of photography; what is a photograph; portraiture; environmental portraiture; reportage; landscape photography (including showing the students images from all of our contributing photographers); guides and techniques; what makes a good photograph; rules of photography (rule of thirds, leading lines, etc.); lighting; editing. Lastly, how the students could share their world through photography.
We then went on to familiarize the students with the digital cameras (thank you to FujiFilm USA for their support):
The students practice how to capture movement:
Following is a selection of work from the students – on the second day of the workshop – taken during their portraiture class:
The students with Jason Florio – image © P.T.S.’s workshop producer Helen Jones-Florio
To check out our ‘behind-the-scenes‘ album, please visit the ‘Photos Tell Stories’ FB page – where you can see the students and Jason Florio at work, during all the photography workshops.
Next up, we’ll be sharing the students images from ‘HOME’. After showing the students work from all our contributing photographers – Manjari Sharma; Amber Terranova; Amy Toensing; Sari Goodfriend; Ryan Heffernan; Ben Lowy; Stefan Falke; Oskar Landi; Thomas Donley; Brandon Remler; Wayne Lawrence; Chris Bartlett; Robert Goldstein; Henry Jacobson; Heloise Bergman – their assignment was to go and photograph their interpretation of ‘HOME’ . The following day, they returned to the workshop with some very interesting and inspired images. More on that very soon…
Other posts you might be interested in: ‘Teaching the art of portrait photography‘
Thank you for stopping by
The Florios (Helen & Jason)
PHOTOS TELL STORIES - documentary | filmmaking | photography | people | travel 