Advice on working in Gambia

OurManInTangier

OurManInTangier

An Undesirable
Local time
1:15 PM
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
2,053
Location
UK
View My Gallery
I'm preparing to head out to Gambia in the new year to photograph the work of a small charity that provides new buildings, education and sponsorship to some of the poorest sections of the Gambian population and I'm in need of some advice from anyone with some relevant experience, be it of the area or documenting such work.

When I get home I'll PM some of those RFF members that I know have experience in the hope they will be kind enough to share some of their experience and knowledge but thought in the meantime I'll open it up to the floor.

I documented gypsy travellers, specifically the variety of homes, about seven years ago for an educational pack that was being put together for schools to raise awareness and attempt to combat some of the prejudice that occurs towards travellers in the UK, BUT, this was a long time ago, was very prescribed and was very much arranged for me.

I've got so many concerns and realise the responsibility I have to do th job right that I could do with all the help and advice I can get.

If anyone wishes to PM me I can give further details although I'm happy to discuss this should anyone be interested enough in this thread to move it along.

Many thanks
 
Get your shots before you go and take your malaria prophylaxis, then you'll be able to enjoy your trip.
 
Although I've never been to Gambia, I did spend a number of years living and working in various countries in Africa. From my (ahem..) experiences here's a list of things I would do:

Avoid photographing or being seen with a camera near any Government, Police, Official buildings - in some African countries it used to be illegal - could still be??

Get in touch with the Gambian Embassy in London prior to leaving and try to gain a letter of introduction / accreditation etc. from them - and also ask for a contact(s) in the relevant ministry in Gambia.

Get in touch with the British High Commission in Banjul and let them know you're coming - they are (usually) pretty friendly and helpful.

Avoid smoking any weed or any similar substance!! Don't know what the laws there are like, but in one of the places I lived one poor tourist got caught smoking weed in the privacy of his hotel room - and was sentenced to 12 years in jail, and 12 years in an African jail ain't nice (I wouldn't want to spend 12 hours in one....).

Ask the charity if they have or can recommend someone to act as your guide-come-fix-it person - saves a lot of trouble and opens a lot of doors..

Bear in mind that many people in Africa will dress up in their finest if they think / know that they are going to have their picture taken. This can sometimes skew what you're trying to achieve, as it doesn't show the everyday reality.

Go with the flow. Things are a lot more relaxed and laid back.

John
 
John and Ken, thank you.

Ken, you may have to explain what you mean by "get your shots before you go," do you mean have a solid plan of what aspects to photograph before heading out rather than turning up and being overwhelmed and losing focus?

John - Sounds like you have quite some experience of living and working in Africa. I'll be travelling out with a team from the charity who will act as liason and guide, plus they have a, very small, team that are based full time in the area around Fass.

I'm aware of some problems that have occurred with journalists in the Gambia since 2002/2004 regarding freedom of speech and the manner that the goverment wishes the country to be portrayed in so I will be contacting the British High Commission there as well as seeking advice from the charity itself, I have another meeting with them tomorrow. As for the weed issue, it's not an issue, thankfully I'm no toker.

I've been doing a fair bit of research online but this only really scratches the surface and certainly doesn't give any indications of the realities of what pitfalls and problems may lie ahead.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to lend a hand, its very much appreciated.
 
finguanzo said:
"get your shots before you go,"
I think he meant, get your proper injections, from your doctor...
Click to expand...

Doh😱

Perhaps this goes to show that the obvious is just as, if not more, important than getting fixated on the "what/how to photograph" and "what gear to take" aspects.
 
I haven't been to the Gambia, but I travel fairly regularly on annoyingly quick business trips to the grand continent, where part of my duties include photographing government and academic meetings.

You didn't say how long you were going for. If it's a very short time (less than a week) try to stay longer. If it's a very long time (a couple weeks or more) expect to get sick or under the weather at least once.

Check with the charity about the availability of power. If your budget allows, and you're going to be spending much time out among villages and at project sites, you might want to consider a portable dye-sublimation printer so that you can give long-lasting copies of photos to people you encounter. Something like a Canon SELPHY CP780.

Even if you're not of European ancestry, you likely look way of of place. Just go with it and be friendly and humble.

Carry extra gear (not with you - that would weigh you down -- but hidden in your dirty laundry or similar for backups). I've never had anything stolen but the only time I ever had a camera fail on me was one of two FM2 film bodies in East Africa many years ago. These days I tend to carry a Nikon D40 with some fast lenses, plus either a Canon G12 or Nikon P7100 for a walk-around/backup as well as movies. A nice thing about something like a G12 or P7100 or other small camera is that it fits into a pants pocket. The P7100 has a separate jack for microphone, which allows descent audio for movies using a wire lapel mic. These days, more and more people appreciate the added immediacy of video.

I've done some nice work with Nikon film rangefinders, but my job demands me to travel light with cameras, a laptop (or two), printed docs, etc, as well as to often meet with senior government people, professors, and journalists. Something had to give so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed with stuff and still look halfway presentable in a suit and necktie, and it regrettably has been the film cameras unless I'm on vacation.

Kids love being photographed. Be nice to them and it will be your entry to more serious work with their elders. Many of the African cultures are very protocol oriented. It's expected that you introduce yourself to those who are affected by your presence, so it's nice if you can adhere to local formalities. Ask he folks who are working with you to help out with local cultural cues.

Respect people. Ask permission and, if there's a language barrier, convey it with body language.

If you don't travel a lot, try to minimize eathing non-cooked foods. Mosquito nets and DEET are your friend.

You might not care to wear a photo vest, but cargo pockets in your pants can be helpful.

It's not so far from the equator. Sunsets and sunrises are suprisingly fast, so the sweet light of dawn and dusk are unusually brief compared to Europe. Good fill flash can be a shot-saver.

If shooting digital, back it up often. If film, keep it safe and cool and ask about reputable developing or make some time to develop your own B&W -- some airport scanners in developing world can be set pretty high.
 
I was talking about vaccinations - Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Poiio, Tdap, and Yellow fever. Malaria prophylaxis mandatory. I'm not sure what travel medicine sites are used across the pond, but here in the US, the Centers for Disease Control has up-to-date, reliable info available at www.cdc.gov/travel.
 
I have been to Gambia. Recently as well.

There is a theme in this thread already that is the most important thing to remember...

Ask. Do NOT photograph without asking first. If you listen to any advice, listen to this.

Ask first.

Second, do everything in your power to NOT look like a photojournalist. Forget the Leicas and/or big sets. If you don't have one already, buy a very good point and shoot that you really jive with and that fits in your pocket. Take anything that requires a 'camera bag' and leave it at home.

Third, keep your bribe money in a separate pocket from your passport.
 
Vince, PKR and John, thank you for some very insightful advice. Some of the points you raise are exactly the kind of knowledge that I don't have and had hoped to get from those such as yourselves. The point about ensuring I ask before taking any photographs is exactly the kind of pitfall I want to avoid; whilst I may have asked at times now I know it's pretty much essential.

John, you are one of the experienced photographers in the field I was hoping to PM. I hope this would be ok with you? I have a meeting with the charity later today where I should get some more information about their plans for the trip, perhaps I could seek some further advice once I have a few more specifics.

Thanks again to all, this is something I've tried to get off the ground for a while now so to benefit from the knowledge, experience and mistakes of those 'that do' is absolutely invaluable to me.
 
Hi Martin.

The charity is a very small one set up by two individuals who worked in the area for a number of years and wanted to help in some way. As such this is a far smaller operation than many would imagine, even of a "small" charity. Having said that, I'm not going out until the middle of January and at the moment all of my meetings have been discussions around the work they intend to do whilst out there and the logistics around this. We will have a number of further meetings, discussions and, I believe, all members of the group will complete a basic medical aid programme including myself - though I wonder if this is only available due to the fact that the people that started the charity are doctors.

I'd love to be able to say that Médicine Sans Frontièrs have come calling at my door or the Red Cross with all their expertise and international contacts, but no, just a tiny local charity trying to help. Which is why I'm paying all my own costs and using the opportunity to help them and hopefully myself too.

I'm a jobbing freelancer working for Press and PR companies most of the time, when I'm not doing that I'm out snapping the kind of single image 'street' type shots that I enjoy. However, I've known for a long time that I want to at least try to produce something that can have a little more meaning and may have a small benefit on someone else's life....not that I'm kidding myself here, but there has to be more than snapshots uploaded to the net and photos of the PM shaking more hands😉

I do very much take your point though Martin, which is why I started the thread and will be PM'ing certain members, there's a huge amount I don't know, masses that I should and if anyone here can suggest even one question that I should ask of the charity that I hadn't previously thought of I should be better prepared come January.
 
Simon,

You might want to ask the same question over at lightstalkers.org - lots of people with experience in these matters over there. The current top post over there is about suggesting fixers for Burkina Faso, for example...

Looked at your gallery - wonderful images. I look forward to the results from Gambia.
 
jonasv said:
Simon,

You might want to ask the same question over at lightstalkers.org - lots of people with experience in these matters over there. The current top post over there is about suggesting fixers for Burkina Faso, for example...

Looked at your gallery - wonderful images. I look forward to the results from Gambia.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jonas, for both the info and the compliment. Lightstalkers is an excellent suggestion.
 
Thanks for the clear and informative reply Simon, and thank you also for not taking my question as being rude - I wasn't phrasing it very tactfully, my apologies. I was a little concerned that this was a situation where the photographer was being 'taken advantage of' by some sort of excessively penny-pinching organisation, but that is not the case.

Indeed, not exactly MSF, but the charity will try to give as much support as they can so that is good. Asking for general supplementary information and tips makes perfect sense, especially given that members here (most definitely NOT including me) are known to have experiences which can be useful.

It would be good to also have a specific contract governing ownership and use of the material which you shoot. Do you give complete ownership to the charity, or do you give them a licence to all the material for their own use while retaining some sort of possibility to use something in your work portfolio, or any other one of a zillion options.

Also, I'd be curious about how does one get the material out of the country as a backup to your local hard-drive etc. - mobile-phone, or globalstar, internet? It just takes one awkward boat accident to lose all your work, and you will likely be travelling a lot in small boats.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom