habitation...


The maize planting of April was coming up well by my return visit in July. The family of a tenant farmer makes a home beneath the thatched shelter nestled in the middle of the field,

It is a rougher living than I expect. There is no fresh clean water, only the dirty seepings scooped from a muddy depression. At night one lays on the ground in stifling still air and only imagines the relief of deep sleep. While small dark rodents scratch and scurry about one's head and feet, the tiny wings of a billion blood-sucking insects whine upon the eardrum.

Wonougba, Togo, June 2007.

Rolleiflex 3.5E2 Xenotar, Fomapan 400.