Life's a Beach in Senegal

I went to Senegal to discover music. And I found Yoro – amazing heartfelt music written in the local Wolof language. What I also found is the tiny fishing village of Yoff.

Over the course of a few days, I observed the community from sunrise to dusk and the inseparable bond that they shared with the ocean. Early morning started with fishermen heading out to the sea and those that stayed behind for the day kept themselves busy with impromptu soccer games on the beach. The day ended with the locals bringing in their catch with a full-blown market right on the sand. Sadly, no one bothered to clean up after the day was over, so the beach was strewn with dead fish, and what not. I hope that changes someday soon.

I used my workhorse 16-35mm lens extensively to get up close and personal (as in the shot of the boys playing soccer) as well as to get a wide view of the boats leaving early in the morning. Although I use two bodies when I’m shooting (one with a wide lens and the other with a telephoto), I tried not to use the 70-200mm due to the attention it was getting from the locals every time I held it up to my eyes. I like to work low-key and the extra attention wasn’t helping. I could have used the 50mm from time to time, but didn’t want to risk changing lenses with sand blowing on the beach. So, for better or worse, I had no choice but to shoot with only one body/lens combo. It worked well from then on. I was able to walk right up to a number of people and get some great shots. Only when it was dusk, I saw this beautiful backlit scene of the people on the beach (yes, I’m a sucker for backlight) and I couldn’t help but use the longer 200mm lens … but that was it. Enjoy the images!