Because 2021, I’ve invested part of each year in Dakar, Senegal, for my work as a photojournalist and videographer. I mainly cover stories associated to social problems and the results of environment modification on neighborhoods. About a year ago, an Italian good friend living in Dakar told me about some dome homes in his community. I ‘d never ever become aware of them in the past. Fascinated, I went with him to take a look.
Though I have actually focused my photography practice on reporting, I have an architecture degree and worked briefly as a designer. That’s probably why Dakar’s “bubble houses” stayed in the back of my mind till I returned to Senegal to finish another project last October. Without much preparation, I went back to the location I went to the year before, called Ouakam, where the biggest number of staying bubble houses lie. Its citizens call it “Cité Ballon.” There, I met among the oldest residents of the neighborhood, referred to as Mr. “Papis.” He introduced me to other owners of neighboring bubble homes who invited me in to record their living setups. The stories I collected from them, along with from citizens of enduring bubble houses in another district called Hann, helped me piece together a few of the history of these at-risk pieces of Dakar’s architectural heritage.