Bittersweet with tropical flavors, the Portuguese version of melancholy, saudade, is an invitation to travel. The series Saudade illustrates the nostalgia felt in several African countries, whose inhabitants stay put while boats, trains and automobiles head off towards unknown horizons. According to Dominique de Roux, in saudade, “regret is greater than desire, and absence more enduring than presence.”
This memory tinged with desire gives these photographs a touch of nonchalance. It often reflects a certain light, early evening or promising mornings. These melancholy remanences are present in the images taken of Ziguinchor, Bamako, Ségou, Lomé, Banjul, Accra, Saint-Denis de La Réunion, Ouagadougou, Sikasso, Dakar, Boromo, Kaolack, Saint-Louis du Sénégal, Luanda, Djenné and Bafoulabé. We take a soft pleasure in feeling what once was that is no longer. These cities project their warm nostalgia in the acceptance of a bygone past.
Florent Mazzoleni
FESTIVAL
Itinéraires des Photographes Voyageurs
Saudade, Florent Mazzoleni
April 2 – 18, 2013
Porte 44 – MC2A
44, rue du Faubourg des Arts
33000 Bordeaux
France
