The image featured above was taken by Jonas Karlsson during a grand music festival held in the desert of Mali. The man pictured in the photo is Malian guitarist Habib Koite whose work is famous throughout the West African music scene. When first glancing through the “Showtime in the Sahara” article in Vanity Fair, the power of this image in particular catches your eye. The reason I believe this image is so powerful is the contrasting pictures of what we would expect to see in a photo from the Sahara Desert and that, which we would not, presented together.
In the background of the photo there appears to be a camp set up in the desert with a few people scattered around it. The pitched white tents that stretch as far as the eye can see do not stand out very much against the neutral color of the sand that is surrounding everything and everyone in the image. This is a typical picture taken in the Sahara Desert. However, in the front and center of the image is Habib Koite totally enjoying himself while playing his electric guitar. This is the other side of the image that you wouldn’t expect to see in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
This contrast is so special because it allows the image to play into what we think we know about Africa while showing a side we don’t know at the same time. While the background of the photo may seem standard, Koite’s image is not. The guitarist’s clothes aren’t what you would expect someone camping in the desert to be wearing. The expression on his face and the way he is looking up into the sun light give the image a feeling of liveliness and enjoyment. Feelings we wouldn’t regularly be shown in images taken of people in the desert. These aspects make this photo extremely powerful in representing the everyday light-heartedness of Africa that we are not often shown.
The phrase "aren’t what you would expect " in the last paragraph is very telling. You have done a great job at reaffirming that Africa is not comprised of the images Americans are constantly shown and that expecting Africa to possess certain qualities is in fact limiting us from seeing the continent in its true form.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you analyzed this image because everything you pointed out and chose to explain was clear to see once pointed out. The split differences of the image is what makes the photo itself. As pointed out in your blog there are things in the image that would go along with out typical thoughts og Africa, but then theres also things that make you see that Africa is just not about what we America has made it out to be.
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