Exploring cultural identity within its complexity and juxtapositions.
2024. The story of a young, unmarried couple in Dakar, oscillating between day and night, the private and public, loving and hiding away, intimacy and distance.
Alternating and raising dichotomies between proximity and distance, longing and love, hiding and being watched, emotional and physical intimacy, this series is inspired by the film and photos of “In the Mood for Love” by Wong Kar Wai, Christopher Doyle and Wing Shya, a representation of hidden love within conservative society.
As a very modest and reserved society in terms of love, physicality and especially public expressions of these, also very concerned with perception, there can be different barriers within love in Senegal, not only in regards to having it, but also in how it is shown and whether or not it is shown. This is a love story bound by societal pressure, the fear of being seen, but it also shows that physicality doesn’t equate intimacy and love.
Despite the power that our societies can give to it, there’s so much ambiguity and falseness in perception. What is shown is never what we see.
With this series, I wanted to show a glimpse of the intimacy that we often don’t see, that isn't necessarily physical but can be, while playing with the fact that it shouldn't be shown.
“Ma la raw” translates to “I miss you more” in Wolof, but it literally means “I am ahead of you” like in a race for example, and can technically mean anything: I love you more, I care more for you, I desire you more…A connection through distance.
2024. So long a life presents a glimpse into the multifaceted nature of one’s coming of age, through the depiction of a personal archive of daily life.
In this project, Amy Sarr reenacts the Xoymet, a Saint-Louisian (Senegal) tradition dating back to the 1930s, in which brides borrowed photographs from their relatives, friends and neighbors to exhibit in their groom’s room on the days of their wedding. While maintaining the intimate nature of these exhibitions through the domestic setting and familial portrait style imagery, Amy revisits this tradition by ornating the room with imagery related to her subject’s personal experience. She brings forward certain elements of Senegalese culture that can influence a woman’s life, ranging from the mundane to cultural memory, through themes of transmission, religion, loss, gender roles, sisterhood…
So long a life stemmed from Amy’s endeavor to question the emphasis placed on marriage as the pivotal step in a woman’s identity and becoming such within Senegalese society. She therefore brings you into the intimacy of a family home, of a woman’s life, and into some of the experiences and memories that have formed the person facing you today.
2022. Created to celebrate Korité, or Eid El-Fitr in Senegal, “Awaken, My Love” explores the question of maintaining one's identity in the context of immigration and celebrates the power of familial ties within the contemporary Senegalese migrant experience. On this day marking the end of Ramadan, Awaken, My Love reflects renaissance, love, and proximity that overweigh the distance from home.
Somewhat concealed, the location doesn’t matter as Korité is above all a celebration not only of religion, but of the simplicity found through fasting, family, core values and tradition. Inspired by Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” album that invites listeners to reflect on the place of the black man in America and the importance of love and intergenerational learning, this series depicts 2 s
Looming Behind revolves around the current immigration crisis in Senegal, and the notion of leaving and being left behind. As an increasing number of our youth is embarking towards the Mediterranean, we are all affected by this crisis, the desperation surrounding it and the mysteries and lost lives of our loved ones. As 2 men look behind at the land while others stare towards the Sea, the image reminds us of everything and everyone emigrants leave behind in the midst of desperation for a better future for themselves and their loved ones. The choice of fabric serves as a metaphor as African fabrics have historically transcended borders, but also brings forward how commodified and dehumanized our migrants have become in global discourse and news. Alternating depending on the light, the bicolor nature of Chantoum serves to illustrate the dichotomous nature and outcomes of emigration, as well as our now ambivalent relationship to the ocean due to the crisis; the pairing of light and darkness also contribute to this. No matter what the outcome of the journey is, those that leave and those that stay become a memory.
Ongoing. While growing up between a majoritively white neighborhood in the United States and Senegal and Togo, I noticed that African children seemed to mature faster, whether it be because some of them help provide for their families, are exposed to various elements of the world earlier, or spend more time surrounded by adults (?). I would often see children outside, in contexts or positions tha
In this ongoing series, I therefore raise the question “Do our children grow up faster?” by taking street photographs that oppose the maturity of African children with the essence of being a child. Within this thought process, I ask myself and invite you to also ask yourself whether this is the case, and if it is positive or negative.
From The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun, to the persecution of black boys in the United States forcing them to miss out on the innocence of childhood, to the City of God, I widen this question to all African children.
Is this true, and if so, why is that? Is this a positive or negative element of the black and African experience?
This series enters a wider dialogue on the infantilization or lack thereof of children. For example, Dijkstra’s photographs such as Kolobrzeg, exploring the identity crisis during which individuals fall between childhood and adulthood, really speaks to me. I loved how Dijkstra found that split-second to depict moments in which a person is both a child and an adult.
2023. In “Chasing the Flag”, I document the various ways in which the Senegalese flag is depicted throughout the country. An example of the embedded nature of art within Senegalese culture, the flag is placed in the most original ways within our cities. In Senegal, there is a constant intertwining of ‘culture’ in an artistic sense and ‘culture’ in a customs sense. A significant part of this culture is rooted in popular art, yet it is left out of the discourse on Senegalese art. The cultural diplomacy movement led by late President Senghor mostly focused on fine arts, but this form of popular art is an inherent part of our culture and is also important to show and celebrate. I consequently created this series to show an example of how the Senegalese use art as a form of patriotic self-expression.
2023. 3 countries, 3 strategic locations leading to 3 different cultures, 3 languages. Through street photography of Senegal, The Gambia, and Cabo Verde, I assess the similarities and differences between Les Pointes de l’Afrique.
2023. A comparative look into the capitals of Senegal and The Gambia, “Senegambia” explores the differences between the two cities and how human influence and economic optimization have affected them. Intrinsically linked culturally yet separated due to colonialism, these capitals have taken different economic and political trajectories. Through these two photos, I invite you to question how the capitals have evolved, diverged, and towards which direction they are headed.
2021. This series highlights the importance and insertion of art into Senegalese culture as a means and outcome of assembly, blurring the line between ‘culture’ in an artistic sense and ‘culture’ in a customs sense. The significant presence of art in all spaces is one of the most beautiful aspects of Senegalese society. It enters all spheres, from the economic to the theological passing by sports.
This series was inspired by the entire Negritude movement and notably Senghor’s efforts to bring forward Senegalese and African art. From Du Bois, “Criteria of Negro Art” explaining that African Americans will never be viewed as humans until their art is recognized as such, to Senghor’s “cultural diplomacy”, this movement displayed the power that culture can have in perception. To Senghor, the Negritude movement was the “humanism of the 20th century”, each civilisation could bring their most creative values to the table. He viewed each Senegalese artist as an ambassador, and made sure they were present on the international scene- from Mamadou Wade in Moscou to Ery Camara in Mexico.
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