Les Fantômes de Bassam, , 2016, tirage jet d'encre, papier fine art, taille variable
Series of 18 photographs taken in Grand Bassam, in the Ivory coast
This series of photographs (a total of 18) were taken in the former French quarter of Grand Bassam in the Ivory coast. Some of the characters in the photos were staged, playing their own role but in a new setting. In each photo a character, cut out from an old postcard dating back to the colonial time, was added to the present photo. The montage is done in such a way as to give the illusion that the character is part of the present. After taking a closer look, the grain or the texture from the old postcard is still visible, serving as a reminder that this is in fact a montage. The figures from the postcards appear as phantoms or repressed ghosts, from a not so distant past that continues to haunt our unconscious. The coexistence of contrasting time periods is dialetic in nature, forcing us to rethink history and deconstruct the present-day relationship between people from this African nation and its past colonists.