Photo of the Day: Sofitel Hotel, Abidjan, taken whilst on a recent assignment in Côte d’Ivoire. Image © Jason Florio
Assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here
Ghanaian, Martin Kyere – sole survivor of the 2005 massacre, in The Gambia, testifies live today at the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).
In July 2005, over 50 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 Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s dictator at the time. Martin was the only person to escape the massacre.
After managing to slip the rope from his wrist, Martin said: “I jumped From the pickup and into the forest. I heard the soldiers shouting at me, but I did not look back. I ran harder…I tripped on something in the forest that brought me down and gunshots passed over me and around me. But, it was dark, so I lay still and waited until it was safe to move again. I could hear behind me “Oh God save us, Oh God save us” and gunshots”. Martin knew then that his friends were being killed. Taken from an interview with Martin, by Jason Florio & Helen Jones-Florio ‘Gambia – victims, and resisters’
Martin is now part of a campaign to bring Jammeh to Justice for himself and the families of all of those whose loved ones were executed in The Gambia, during one week in July 2005.
Assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here
Header Image: Martin Kyere, in Ghana ©Jason Florio / Helen Jones-Florio from their ongoing series, ‘Gambia – victims, and resisters’
February, 2021: On assignment in The Gambia. My current project is based around returnees, who left by ‘the backway’ to Libya but who have since returned to home. Documenting them – through film and photography – as they begin to rebuild their lives, with the support of the organisation, Catholic Relief Services.
Image: Rose stands in front of her shop on a busy junction in the Bakoteh area of Gambia. In a few short months, she has already expanded the size of her shop by half. With the income from her shop, she supports her family – including employing her mum to work in the shop and paying for her sister to go to college. (Image of Jason Florio courtesy of Helen Jones-Florio)
Assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here
Buy fine art photography prints by Jason Florio from helenjonesflorio.com online gallery. Eclectic, limited edition collections. Many prints are available in large format.
Our ethos at the Helen Jones-Florio photography prints gallery is to offer a seamless, bespoke, fine art print purchasing service. Whether it be a one-print or multi-print order, we work one-one with every client. We use the services of master printers to provide museum-quality prints… helenjonesflorio.com
‘Jason Florio’s work is breathtaking! I’ve used his photography in my favorite projects, and his pieces steal the show! Helen Jones-Florio is so great to work with and I highly recommend!’ Hark+Osbourne Interior Design
Assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here
Header image: ‘Caravan England’ by Jason Florio
