This photo was taken in Abidjan, two days before the end of a skate tour organized by SurfGhana in October 2022. The goal of the tour, lasting a little over a week, was to bring together Ghanaian and Ivorian skate communities. I was tasked with documenting the journey. Initially, I was just going to take a group photo with all the skaters, but I am fascinated by movements. By instinct, I started moving my camera, getting closer to try to capture less frozen, less sought-after moments.

I captured this portrait of my parents in 2015. My aim was to explore the complexity of relationships and the challenges of communication, while highlighting the attachment and family values of my parent’s generation. During that time, I enjoyed performing in front of the camera, using simple props around the house to stage scenes. I liked to focus on personal narratives, relying on natural light and my DSLR camera.

This week, we are highlighting portraits from our inaugural year. We invite newer subscribers to learn more about talented photographers who have contributed to the Tender Photo newsletter. Features by our current editorial fellows will return next week.

The image is instantly recognizable to anyone who has done any roadside shopping in the CBD, where vendors and the city inspectorate are regularly engaged in a battle for control of sidewalks and paved pathways.

NOIR 40 is restrained and intimate, quite minimalistic and close to the skin. I set aside all accessories used in earlier works. Contrasts remain, but white exists only within black—to express Black identity in its purest, most intimate form and reveal the individuality of the sitter. My aim is to deconstruct and break stereotypes about the identity of the black woman by showing her dignity and inner strength.

This photograph was taken in the village of Ozaga, Ait Heddou Youssef in the heart of the Atlas Mountains. It is a part of my first series, «A journey into nature where time stops to play», a project that reflects my inner child by documenting the daily lives of Amazigh children.

My images oscillate between a desire to hold onto a particular moment or emotion and more deliberately orchestrated compositions. My work exists in that space between what we see and how we perceive the things we see. They are a way to catalogue experience and show evidence that I have interacted with the world around me.

Tender Photos is pleased to announce a call for applications to Tender Visions, a new cross-disciplinary commissioning program for photographers and writers based on the African continent, supported by funding from the Open Society Foundations. Eight photographers will be selected through this open call and commissioned to produce new work

Taken in 2018, this photograph is part of a documentary project, Au Quartier, which explores life in Rwandan neighborhoods. The project began in 2012 as a street photography project, capturing candid moments. It has since evolved to include interviews and personal stories, allowing me to engage directly with my subjects.

The photograph shows a person sitting on the stairway in front of a faded yellow building, wearing a mask with an elongated oval shape, adorned with what appears to be cowrie shells and raffia materials at the top. With hands clasped together between their lap, they are dressed in a layer of colourful clothes—a jacket with a vibrant checkered design, a black shirt with white details underneath, and a bright blue trouser with circular patterns and white sneakers.