Today, on the 1st April, 2019, a lot of pictures of the journey have been taken, although in this respect, the day is not much different from any other day of the year. The pictures will flood social media, some of them will remain forever on computer discs, and others, after having been carefully adjusted, will be published in glossy travel magazines. About 167 years ago travelling for photography was so difficult and demanding in terms of knowledge, as well as dedication, that it was a rather infrequent activity, which seems hard to imagine for a present globetrotter.
For the photographers, who travelled all over the world, visiting various exotic countries, with new technology invented and developed by Frederic Scott Archer in the 1950s, it was an incredible delight. Growing demand for images of African countries caused rising frequency of travels towards this part of the world. Hot climates couldn’t deter first photographers, who bravely overcame difficulties sailing the Nile, carrying their own portable dark rooms and sometimes also hens for getting protein, necessary to produce aluminium prints.
High temperatures and tough routs, leading to hard to reach places, were only some of the obstacles Marcin Andrzejewski had to overcome travelling along Gambia River. Fortunately, quite developed present technology allows to avoid or at least alleviate some of the toils and snares the first travellers had to face. However, both back then and to-day, travelling is most of all about meeting people, talking to them and watching them live their lives. Those overseas countries are quite exotic compared to our European culture, which have always sparked interest and curiosity of generations of photographers, who have been trying to depict what they see and experience in the most genuine way. Marcin chose the technique of taking pictures slowly, in a style of travel photography pioneers, using technology of wet collodium. He chose this arduous method, so as to capture moments lasting only fractions of seconds, to achieve which you have to sweep the whole lot of what happens be-fore the camera in a long span of time. Both his and my fascination for Gambia is a desire to leisurely soak what is happening around at the locals’ pace. There are twelve various tribes living in Gambia and each has an extraordinary and a rather intricate past, and their present is fraught with hardship and traps. All translates into images showing different fragments of this beautiful country, fragments having no connection with each other at first sight, put together, though, they make up a consistent history, which in tourist hustle and bustle can easily pass unnoticed. Faces are a rather infrequent sight in the photos, when they appear, though, they are the people the author met in person, told them about himself and about his artistic undertaking. These are conscious creations before the camera. These photos are significantly different to those from half of the 19 century. Faces in old pictures are most often sad, with stilted expression, showing uneasiness of someone compelled to pose rather than doing it willingly, on their own accord. Perhaps, photography was so strange to them that they feared it as we fear something unknown. They could have perceived it as a kind of magic, attributing some weird spiritual dimension to it. Nowadays, in the era of selfie, when the aura of mystery and uncertainty surrounding the field of photography belongs to the past, photography is all about fun, cooperation and mutual trust.
Andrzejewski, unlike most of modern tourists, does not travel by comfortable, air conditioned coaches. He mingles with locals and, like them, protects himself from scorching African heat in many improvised ways, wipes the sweat from his forehead but smiles, because he participates in everyday celebration of Gambian life. He acts like in 1870 Alfred Noak, whose old photos of landscapes with staffage became a paradigm for many years. It is a definite reference to photographic tradition, a kind of homage to photography pioneers’ achievements. In the pictures can be seen, important for Gambians, places by waters and their beautiful boats used for their fishing trips. Farmers and their animals carefully looked after like family members, people singing and dancing are often the theme of the photos. I believe, Marcin Andrzejewski will succeed in creating an unforgettable and unique picture of Gambia, depicting the whole incredible beauty of this African country.
Marek Pozniak
