About the artwork
In 2011, Malagasy photographer Emmanuelle Andrianjafy arrived in the port city of Dakar, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean from the westernmost coast of Africa. For the first years of her migration, Andrianjafy was overwhelmed by the city. But eventually, she knew she had to confront her new environment.
Nothing’s in Vain is Andrianjafy’s response to the experience of uprooting to the Senegalese capital – “a city as vibrant as it is disorientating”. Her photography captures a metropolis teetering between construction and deconstruction. Each image careens between street scenes, portraits, landscapes and close-up details, recreating her fluctuating experiences of a multifaceted city.
Nothing’s in Vain is presented by Photo Australia and the Metro Tunnel Creative Program for PHOTO 2021.
About the artist
Living and working in Dakar, Senegal, Emmanuelle Andrianjafy’s photographs immerse the viewer in the street scenes, landscapes and close-up details of her adopted home. Winner of the MACK First Book Award and Contemporary African Photography Prize in 2017, Nothing’s in Vain was also a finalist in the Aperture Portfolio Prize in the same year. Showing soon at the Singapore International Photography Festival, Andrianjafy’s previous exhibitions include Bamako Encounters, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, Lagos Photo Festival, Photo London, the Athens Photo Festival, Addis Foto Fest, and the Aperture Summer Open. Nothing’s in Vain has also featured in the British Journal of Photography, Radio France Internationale, CNN, American Suburb X, Contemporary And (C&), and Zum magazine.
Photography by James Henry