We are finally back in the field, filming in The Gambia, West Africa. We are here to work on a couple of new filming and photography assignments. It’s a pleasure to work for the first time on this particular assignment with Gaia Media’s Andy Thompson. More news soon…
We are thrilled to be chosen for The Photoville FENCE, 2020, with ‘Gambia – victims and resisters‘ – an ongoing multimedia body of work that began back in 2016. With the blessing of those we have photographed and filmed, our intention has always been to share their very personal and traumatic stories far and wide. Heartfelt thanks to the FENCE jurors and the Photoville team for helping us to achieve this.
‘The Photoville FENCE is a year-round public photography project exhibited in major parks and downtowns across North America. Featuring over 90 photographers annually, the exhibition brings compelling visual stories into the public realm, and to a wide and diverse audience.
The 9th edition will be displayed in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Calgary, Denver, Durham, Houston, Metro (Fargo, W. Fargo and Moorhead), New Orleans, Sarasota, Seattle and Winchester!‘ Read/see more: The Photoville FENCE
President Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia with an iron fist fortwenty two years after taking control of the country with a coup in July1994. With Jammeh’s exile after electoral defeat in 2016, a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was set up to look into his regime’s abuses. The TRRC along with victims families and local media at Yundum army Barracks where the bodies of seven murdered soldiers were exhumed. The soldiers were murdered by soldiers loyal to Jammeh for being allegedly part of a counter coup in November 1994. Witnesses say eleven soldiers were buried at the barracks, so far only seven have been found. Along with the bone fragments, electrical cables were also found that were used to bind the victims hands. The only clothing found were underwear, corroborating witness testimonies that the men were stripped almost naked before being shot.
From 1994 -2017 President Yahya Jammeh ruled the Gambia, West Africa, as his own personal fiefdom, crushing dissent, and opposition, with brutality.
His personal hit squad and intelligence agency carried out tortures, and assassinations with impunity – journalists were gunned down and disappeared, ministers were jailed, students shot in cold blood, and even his own brother and sister were murdered on his orders.
With Jammeh’s 2016 election defeat, he went into exile after a standoff with regional forces, and the victims of his regime started to come forward.
Cast your vote for the People’s Choice Winner of the 9th edition of the Photoville FENCE! Help decide the artist who will receive a Leica camera package and a yearlong mentorship with the Photoville team.
Individuals may cast one vote per day from now through January 2021.
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Header image: Gambian student, Ami Lowe.
“I grew up not knowing the love of a father. I was only three years old when he disappeared, so I don’t remember him. I only know him through what people have told me, that he was a good man, and some say he was a hero.” Amie Lowe
Watch:‘I Cannot Bury My Father’– short documentary about the murder of 56 West African migrants, in 2005, in The Gambia, by Yahya Jammeh’s security forces
‘Gambia – victims, and resisters’: Abdoulie Jamanti Darboe, a former clerk at the training school of the Gambia Armed Forces was arrested and tortured for his supposed involvement in the November 11th, 1994 alleged coup plot. Sent to Mile 2 Prison, he went to court three times. Each time the court stated ‘no case to answer’, and that he should be released. He was finally released, 18 months later, without trial.
“Every Friday at the mosque, I see the man who tortured me in prison. The perpetrators are still enjoying life while we suffer. Reconciliation is the only thing that will bring peace, but not if the perpetrators do not own up to their wrongs.”
On April 10th, 2000, Sainabou Camara Lowe, then a young student, was caught up in student protests erupting in Serrekunda, Gambia’s business hub. She was captured and detained by four paramilitary officers. She was taken to one of the officer’s quarters, where they stripped off her school dress and tied a rope around her neck to restrain her. Sainabou said that the officers then stamped on all over her body, including her groin area until she passed out. Believing she was dead, the officers took her to the mortuary at the hospital. A nurse saw her, and while trying to remove the rope from the young girl’s neck – as she did not want Sainabou’s family to see her body in such a condition – Sainabou took a gasp of breath. “She’s alive! She’s alive!” the nurse shouted and rushed her to the Emergency Ward. Sainabou remained in the hospital for over three months – during which time she was treated for multiple injuries, including internal damage to her vagina.
“When the shooting started we (the students) all ran from the paramilitary. I’m trying to jump over the fence but I cannot. I already threw one leg over but with the other one they dragged me down and threw me to the ground, they were beating me. Then they took me to their quarters and tied me up. With their boots they were dancing all over my body. Then I became unconscious. For seven days afterwards my family didn’t know where I was, they thought I was dead”
In 2005, 56 West African migrants, including 44 Ghanaians were murdered in The Gambia en route to Europe. The unarmed migrants were killed by the “Junglers”, a death squad reporting directly to President, Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s dictator at the time. Evidence has since emerged that Yahya Jammeh, gave the orders to kill them. The families of the victims are still seeking justice.
From 1994 -2017 President Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia, West Africa, as his own personal fiefdom, crushing dissent, and opposition, with brutality.
His personal hit squad and intelligence agency carried out tortures, and assassinations with impunity – journalists were gunned down and disappeared, ministers were jailed, students shot in cold blood, and even his own brother and sister were murdered on his orders.
With Jammeh’s 2016 election defeat, he went into exile after a standoff with regional forces, and the victims of his regime started to come forward.
So far, over one thousand victims and their families have registered with the Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations to share their stories and help build international support to bring Jammeh to justice.
This multi-media series is a work in progress – which began at the end of 2016, just before Jammeh was ousted (when we met Gambian dissidents who were hiding out in neighbouring Senegal). Helen and I, have many more portraits to make, and testimonies to film. We are forever indebted to all those who have shared their stories with us so far. View more from the series on my website floriophoto.com
‘Stelle Del Mare’ –The people, they arrive to you early seeking your silky salty comfort. Some are old men who trace the sign of the cross on their chests before submerging into you, some are looking to you to hide their inhibitions and sexual gamings, some are drunks seeking solace from an all-nighter. You do not discriminate and welcome all.
I have spent years on the road attempting to tell the stories of others. In this time of COVID ‘lockdowns’ and seemingly unending up-endings of our lives, I have needed to slip into a more contemplative state; looking for a less literal and more visceral form of storytelling. This new ongoing series of ‘postcards’ from our Malta window and close by, onto the Mediterranean sea was born of the subconscious – a speechless full moon that nudges my conscious minds-eye to react – but whatever story there might be in the frame, is open to imagination, interpretation and meditation…Jason Florio – photographer/filmmaker
