Kunta Kinteh

The Gambia is a river that runs through the country with land consuming only a few miles on the north and south banks. In the middle of the river lies a tiny island, taking only about 2 minutes to circulate, known as Kunta Kinteh island. The island, which used to named James' island after king James II but now more traditionally titled, is a vital part of the countries history. It was here that slaves taken to the island were stored, like cattle, in a room about 3 metre by 2 metres. There were 30 slaves to a room. Food was chucked in through a window and they were left to fight over it. It was literally survival of the fittest. Those who survived were the ones deemed strong enough to survive the long, agonising journey over to the Americas or Europe. Not really a prize it seems worth fighting for, but I guess that's survival; living past one challenge just to endure the next. I found that this was an important example of constructed normality. We look back at things like this in disgust today, but back in the day this would be normality. It's only when we question what is deemed right or wrong, question what we consider to be normal, that we can ever change and progress. After all, right and wrong is just a matter of opinion, right?

This photo wasn't taken on the island, but back on the mainland, by a fort which was used to end the slave trade by firing at ships exporting slaves. This was a really interesting place too, I found it mind-blowing how the last of the established slave trade actually only ended in the 1980s! People always presume it to have ended centuries ago, but I guess that's just another socially constructed truth. For the real truth you always have to dig deeper. The person pictured here was a local who had finished school, but still came to sit by a tree here and read everyday. He said there wasn't really much else for him to do, he didn't want to stop learning but was too old to continue at school. He also couldn't afford any further education, so to carry on reading was his only way to keep on learning. I found him really interesting to talk to and he asked me if I could take his photo and send it to him, which of course I was happy to do. Its a good reminder to myself not to take for granted what I all too often do.