Series - FotoSlovo 2026 - Category « Conceptual photography »

Where the River Holds Us is a photographic project set in Bounda, a small village along the Alima River in the Republic of Congo, where daily life unfolds in constant dialogue with water and forest. In this environment, the river is not a backdrop but a living system that shapes movement, labor, relationships, and identity. Fishing, cooking, traveling, and play are all rooted in a deep interdependence between people, the river, and the surrounding jungle.

This series explores how this way of life is sustained, transmitted, and increasingly challenged by environmental change. Rising water levels, shifting seasons, and decreasing fish stocks are transforming daily practices, requiring continuous adaptation. At the same time, knowledge of navigation, fishing, cultivation, and care, is passed from one generation to the next through lived experience.

The visual approach combines documentary photography with constructed, layered compositions. Multiple images, often pairing human activity with elements of the landscape, are brought together within a single frame. These compositions are set against wax fabric backgrounds, a textile widely present in everyday and ceremonial life. The patterns of the fabric echo the scenes depicted, visually linking cultural identity and environment while reinforcing the sense that all elements are embedded within one another.

The project is both observational and personal. Bounda is the village of my grandfather, and this work emerges from a desire to reconnect with a place that is part of my own history. Moving between proximity and distance, I photograph as both a participant and a witness, attentive to gestures of care, resilience, and community.

The next phase of the project will focus on documenting the village during the rainy season, when rising waters reshape the landscape and daily life. By bringing together images from both dry and rainy seasons, the work will explore temporal shifts and the evolving relationship between people and their environment.

All photographs are created without the use of artificial intelligence. The project combines both digital and analog photography, allowing for a dialogue between different material processes and visual textures.

Through this work, I aim to contribute to broader conversations around climate adaptation, ecological interdependence, and the importance of local knowledge in shaping sustainable futures.