On Discovering Photography: Chadian photographer Abdoulaye Barry

I was fascinated by photography from a very early age. As a child, I was struck by the mystery behind the reproduction of images. My friends from my neighbourhood and I used to go to the “Normandie”, “Vog” or “Rio” cinemas to collect the worn-out and damaged film reels so we could try to set up our own cinema. We made a kind of wooden projector with an electric bulb and a magnifying glass. When the light was projected through the film, you could see the film images quite distinctly, which were, in turn, enlarged by the magnifying glass fixed in front of our wooden projector. This home-made cinema we created was art in itself; I just didn’t realize it at the time! Today, now that I consider myself an artist, I can say that it is a path that I embraced even in my childhood.

 – Abdoulaye Barry: “Through Photography, I Want to Take on My Share of Responsibility”