These are: a woven straw mat, a man spreading his arms wide boubou, and the white door of the 2CV photographer ... that make up the cobbled staged by Oumar Ly when traveling in the villages. It begins with simple shots of identity. Then the villagers in this region of northern Senegal, who discovered in the early 60's photography, invites everyone to realize the family portraits.
The "mat" is used, and to isolate what seems unmanageable under: Outside insignificant and unnecessary. Instinctively, therefore, in the manner of certain representations of Our Lady of the Renaissance, the photographer breaks the prospect that keep the main subject to a background tension between the landscape and the lens.
The modest accessories, a stool, a plastic bucket of grain or a wall of mud, eventually to carry the portrait of family and whole village. They imagine, several behind the photographer, came to show the photo.

Work published with the support of:
- Marie-Louise & Fils
- Service of Cooperation and Cultural Action of the Embassy of France in Senegal
- La souris du le gâteau