Photo Journal Monday: Ngadi Smart
East End Community, Freetown © Ngadi Smart
Images and text by Ngadi Smart
Photo Edited by Lucia Luzzani
Wata Na Life
Wata Na Life (Krio for ‘Water is Life’), is a phrase I heard time and again in Sierra Leone, a country where water is very much a currency. Commissioned by Wateraid and British Journal of Photography, I spent three months in the country of my heritage exploring the link between water and our changing climate. What I found were communities adapting as best they could to the fall-out from a climate-exacerbated water crisis, amidst corruption and lack of governmental planning.
Tombotima Community, Port Loko District © Ngadi Smart
Taninawahun Community, Kailahun District © Ngadi Smart
The project is a marked rejection of the “dehumanising” way developing African nations have historically been portrayed by Western media — I counter tropes of “poverty porn” with vibrant collage; celebrating the essence and identities of the people and places of Sierra Leone, blending each location's scenery, portraits, and objects to form a more authentic representation than I felt any single photo could convey.
I want Sierra Leoneans to look at this work and feel proud. That's the most important thing.
Fourah Bay College Stream, Freetown © Ngadi Smart
Ja Kingdom Community, Freetown © Ngadi Smart
Tengbeh Town Community, Freetown © Ngadi Smart
Fourah Bay College Stream, Freetown © Ngadi Smart
Tombotima Community, Port Loko District © Ngadi Smart
Mabettor Community, Karine District © Ngadi Smart
