Photographing The Gambia

The Gambia is mainland Africa's smallest sovereign nation, tracing the meandering course of the Gambia River into the Atlantic Ocean. In coastal communities and the capital of Banjul, traditional fisheries come alive each afternoon as hundreds of brightly hand-painted wooden pirogues return through Atlantic surf. The air fills with ocean mist and woodsmoke as fish are cured in beachfront ovens, offering photographers masterclass conditions for high-atmosphere documentary storytelling. Inland, protected wetlands and tidal mangroves host over five hundred species of birds.