Pierre
Vanneste

BARGNY - Yonoo Yokkute  (Sénégal)

[2018 - 2022 ]

I discovered the town of Bargny in 2016 after befriending some Lébou fishermen. Very quickly, I found myself constantly traveling back and forth there. At the time, Bargny was undergoing a profound transformation, perfectly illustrating the shift from a rural to an industrial society. This evolution also mirrored what was happening in many towns across Senegal. That’s when I felt the desire to document this community over the long term.

Located 35 kilometers from Dakar, Bargny is on the verge of becoming the capital's next major industrial suburb. Trapped between the rising sea levels caused by climate change and its forced shift toward the industrial sector, the town seems like a massive construction site for worlds in decline. A community of Lébou fishermen and Peul herders, whose family estates have been passed down for generations, is now gradually losing all its resources and becoming dependent on the industries settling in the area.

Some of the planned projects include a coal-fired power plant, a mineral and bulk port, and a steel plant under development. These infrastructures will only worsen the environmental problems: air pollution, destruction of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the grabbing of land and water resources. Meanwhile, families living along the coastline lose their homes to the encroaching sea every year without being offered any relocation solutions. The state, on its part, declares their land to be of public interest to transfer it to industrial project developers.

As if sitting on the edge of the world, Bargny questions our society and its choices. It reflects the ongoing ecological disasters and bears witness to Senegal’s forced march toward “emergence.”

First chapter of this project "Bargny, ici commence l'émergence" , codirected with Laurence Grun, broadcast by Le Soir (BE) and Basta!mag média (FR)