TRADE
Monique & Blandine
In Abidjan, they say that trading is a woman’s game. It’s women’s faces that you see on the streets running the market stalls, the stores and the small stands. They’re mostly self-employed: if they sell their produce they win, if not no one is paying their wages.
Monique runs a small stand selling nuts and fruit. Everyday, she cleans the nuts by hand before putting them into bottles and jars that line the shelves in a mosaic of random glass containers. She always greets me with a large smile and a great vibe. Once, I missed some change to buy my nuts and she trusted me to bring her some later – wow! – you don’t find trust like that too often in today’s world.
One day she proudly asked me to take a picture of the girl who works with her. When I shot the image I discovered that the girl is her daughter: her name is Blandine and with a smile like hers, it seems that the business is not the only thing that runs in the family.
WE DON'T KNOW HER NAME
When we decided to travel to Africa with a camera we thought long and hard about the ethical issue taking people’s pictures: we didn’t want to feel like we were stealing anyone’s image. Of course, every picture tells a story, but I decided to make sure that we only took images of women we had at least spoken with. We wanted ours to be a gallery full of strong images of women with a name.
While running around with Priss K in the market one day I met the girl you see here. I asked to take her portrait and in the rush to move on with Priss K, I forgot to ask her name. This beautiful strong face became the exception to my self-enforced rule.
KONE KOROTOUM
I first met Kone in the hairdresser at Trashviel and then again when she came to Alima’s house to do our Henna tattoos. She is a voluptuous woman who walks around with a small bag filled with styling goodies. Her craft is so intricate: in free hand she tattoos works of art on our hands and feet.
She notices that Alima and I have become close and that we’re emotional at my departure the next day: “take her with you” she says, “take her away from all this”.
And I think about the cold streets of Amsterdam compared to the sensual streets of Abidjan, filled with sunshine and smells.