a mind of their own
In February 2020 I traveled to Diffa in Niger for Stichting Vluchteling, the Dutch Refugee Foundation. There I met a number of children which I asked each a different question. We talk about friendship, possession, loss, about the sun and the wind and much more. Just everyday life things. I shot the portraits while they were in the middle of the process of thinking about the questions I proposed. That seemed nice to me. You crawl a bit in their head, as it were.
It was impossible to stay more than one and a half day in Diffa. I was told that it is simply too dangerous for a white person to hang out for a longer period of time. Therefore I had to think of a very simpel to construct set up for the portraits. I bought fabric in the famous Albert Cuyp market in Amsterdam, where I live. Everything had to be lightweight since there was a limit of 15KG in total I could carry with me in the small UN airplane which was bringing us to Diffa. I decided to carry a set of Lume Cubes with me to illuminate the faces. That proved to be a good decision since the kids could hold and point the small LED lights in the right direction. Lots of laughs guaranteed. I set up the backdrop inside the school. That was the safest place for all of us.
The children reacted very well to the questions I asked. I would have loved to stay longer and take time to discuss more about certain issues they addressed. Hopefully in the future when the dire situation in the region will improve it will be possible to hang out longer with these great kids!
