African Wisdom in Image and Proverb

The student union's art gallery is currently displaying the photography exhibit Betty Press: African Wisdom in Image and Proverb. These black and white images show moments of people's daily lives that the photographer witnessed while traveling across Africa.

I sketched one that I particularly liked:

The accompanying proverb, from Kenya, read: "A calabash with holes cannot be filled."

The photo's caption said that the image was from Mbao, Senegal, in 1988. About the image the photographer wrote:

"While visiting a women's group that was setting up a dried fish business, I saw this woman sitting in a courtyard cleaning rice. As she was doing this most mundane job, she was beautifully dressed and so composed that even having her picture taken did not distract her from her work."

I really liked the photo's contrast between the austere buildings of the fore and middle ground with the subtle ornament of the background's domed building, which is likely some sort of church or mosque. All this austerity contrasts sharply with the woman's richly patterened clothing, which I didn't sketch (of course). It makes me wonder what the building interiors look like--like the severe surfaces of the building exteriors or the richness of the clothing?

I've read that in many of the cultures in this area the buildings are focused inward toward a central courtyard and contribute little to their sides facing the streets. I'm not sure how this affects the street culture, having never witnessed these types of places. I do know that other cultures whose buildings are also inwardly-oriented include Arab cultures, the cultures of North Africa, the Middle East, and Spain.

For more of Betty Press's work, check out her website at http://www.bettypress.com/.