LAURA EL-TANTAWY

PERSONAL PROJECTS: STROLLING SENEGAMBIA

- Senegal & The Gambia -

Senegal and the Gambia, once united in a union as Senegambia, share a common story with slavery, which existed on this West Coast as early as the mid-fifteenth century. Through these waters sailed ships from coast to coast hauling workers, slaves, from their homeland to a foreign place which would become home.

Although their union was dissolved, today’s Senegal and The Gambia are vibrant with life and color. Faces always seem to smile and eyes gleam with optimism.

Children's reflection in the window of a parked van in a village of the Casamance region in Senegal.
   
A child sits by a pond after emerging from a swim to cool off.
   
Children bathe and cool off in a pond.
     
  
A child plays in the incoming waves in a village near the capital, Dakar.
   
A youngster picks his teeth with a piece of wood while walking along rice fields.
   
Women wash freshly caught fish in a fishing village located near the capital, Dakar, in Senegal.
     
  
A woman looks over her shoulder as fishermen haul their boats in with a day's worth of fish in a village in The Gambia.
   
A woman walks away from washing a tray for carrying fresh-caught fish in a fishing village.
   
Women receive arriving fishermen with buckets and trays to sort through their day's catch in a fishing town.
     
  
Couple in a fishing village in The Gambia.
   
Woman in fishing village in The Gambia
   
A shadow of a youngster is cast on a wall as women in a fishing village located along the ocean lift buckets of water in a fishing village close to the capital, Dakar.
     
  
The sunset leaves dark shadows and hues of gold in a village of the Casamance region in Senegal.
   
A fishermen tries to start his boat engine as the day's remaining light dwindles outside a village of the Casamance region in Senegal.