Listening to Youssou N’dour’s just-released album, “Eclairer Le Monde (Light the world)”, the serenity from the shores of Dakar — Senegal’s capital, and home to the Goree Island, a world heritage site and colonial relic — feels very much alive in the Senegalese bard’s melodies.
Images from Director Chase’s just-released photography collection, Less Is More, embody the same serenity and cerebral curiosity that power through N’dour’s music. Created in Dakar, Director Chase’s collection investigates the ordinary life of the most extraordinary people, from a musician playing the Kora, to a veteran walking a dog, to teenage girls posing by a beachside, and the lush futuristic coastal landscape that overlooks the grandeur of the Atlantic ocean.
Born Segun Afadapa, Director Chase is one of the most vibrant contemporary African filmmakers redefining the continent’s global image and celebrating its creative spirit. Catching up with The Guardian, he peels back the layers on his recent Senegalese adventure, connecting the dots from his thoughts to pixels and film, as well as his mission to keep his creativity in motion.
Tell us about Less Is More exhibition
Less is more is simply a way to say a lot without saying much, seeing the surrounding of Senegal, each places in Senegal that I visited has a story behind it, whether it’s Dakar, Thies, farthala and Goree island, they all have to story to tell of how they came to be, what happened there and how rich in culture they are- a lot of art pieces/ every corner has an art shop or gallery- art pieces that inspire you, it’s an art and fashion world there… being in the midst of all this put me together to create, I want people to look at my work and see the effort I had put in to make those images, it’s not taking a random picture but the idea-styling- and also finding the location to take those photographs, that’s what I had in my mind it title it, Less Is more.
What were your best memories captured?
My favourite pictures would be the one I took in the Atlantic Ocean surrounding Dakar. It was a lot of effort and gut doing that because the water is salty, it could damage my camera but I still wanted a pic like that in my head, so anything to achieve that is what I must do, getting into the water with my film camera – I wasn’t sure it would come out nice because of the struggle between taking a shot and waves of water trying to drown me. It felt crazy, but that one in the water is my favorite. My other favorite one is the little boy on the horse carriage; I won’t lie, I’ve not seen a thing like that in real life, except in movies, so I was really shocked to come across something like that on the way to Fathala Zoo, a 6-hr road trip. These are the efforts that were put in, but nobody really sees. This is why I titled it Less Is More.
Any particular intrigues in Dakar?
What really captivated me was how everyone was over there, they were not doing too much. I was fascinated by them speaking French- Portuguese and Wolof in one sentence lol and sometimes little English.
Why photography as a medium?
Photography as a medium for me as an artist is because I’m too lazy to pick a pencil or paint brush to paint- growing up I used to imagine faces and just draw them on piece of paper or my school notes book cover, I’ve long let that of me go and I’ve not been practicing, taking photos is my second favorite thing in the world beside filming or trying to design clothes, any images I can imagine I’ll like to create it putting whatever it takes together- im not sure I answered correctly but this may explain why
What’s next for you?
I am trying to direct more music videos and also planning to direct my first short film/movie then create more artistic images. It is a lot going on but we will see what we can achieve in a year.
