Tanzania Revisited

Tanzania Revisited is a series of stories about people’s lives, which I was able to observe during periods of working in Tanzania, a sort of second home to me. Each single image relates to social and economic structures of society. The series contains unique openness, as a result of working without a project deadline or format. Experiencing an East-African country more as an insider, is a complex and time consuming process. In Africa, you can ask someone to pose in front of a house, or wait till someone takes position naturally, with an authentic expression. Works are made on site and based on interaction, leading to (staged) documentary works I couldn’t imagine beforehand. As I’m guided by collaborative processes, ‘the other’ is personally involved to be represented equally and in renewing ways. The project reflects on cross-cultural relations. Dar es Salaam is an inspiring city to me, not only because of its multi ethnicity, community structures, economic activity, international trade and rich biodiversity. In Tanzania, things aren’t always what they seem. Also when it comes to the perception of time and social structures. “The continent is too large to describe. It is a veritable ocean, a separate planet, a varied, immensely rich cosmos. Only with the greatest simplification, for the sake of convenience, can we say ‘Africa’. In reality, except as a geographical appellation, Africa does not exist.” Ryszard Kapu?ci?ski, The Shadow of the Sun