HUMANS

There I was, left on my own in the middle of nowhere in Burundi. It was my first time in sub saharan Africa. The NGO car who had taken me wasn’t supposed to give me a ride in the first place since they have rules not to transport anyone outside their staff for insurance purposes. When the responsible found out during a phone call with the driver I had to leave the car immediately...

 

So there I was, in a little village in Burundi, big guys around and me, a small lady, loaded with a bag full of expensive camera stuff. After some time I found a taxi to drive me back to the capital. The taxi driver was a cool guy. As he heard I was Belgian, he proposed to take me for a quick visit to the university of Bujumbura, built by a Belgian architect during colonial period. On the way, we stopped at a fuel station where I captured a multiple-men composition in the broken rear-view mirror of the taxi.

 

I spent a great afternoon.

 

I knew I was ready for Africa.

​

The other days I went to rural areas and I found beauty in all its simplicity. 

​

​

​

* The university of Bujumbura is built in brutalist style by the Belgian architect Roger Bastin. Burundi was a Belgian colony from 1922 to 1962. After WWI the League of Nations mandated Rwanda-Urundi to Belgium (from Germany).

​
 

Burundi, 2010