BurkinaByMatt.com
Title
BurkinaByMatt.com- Photography from Burkina Faso by Matt McClure
Description
Every Peace Corps Volunteer agonizes over what to pack before leaving the US for two years. We're given 80 pounds of space, and everyone tries to figure out the best way to use this. What makes it so hard is that we don't really know what we're going to need, or what is going to be available. Who knew that you could buy a toothbrush in almost any village in West Africa? I certainly didn't, which is why I brought 12 of them. At the time, I thought it seemed reasonable. As did bringing four rolls of toilet paper, realizing neither the high availability of toilet paper, nor how absurd it was to think that four rolls might last two years. I was consumed by a process of carefully selecting 80 pounds worth of things I would later look at and ask, "why on earth did I bring this?"
I wouldn't have packed a single useful thing, if my mother didn‘t insist I take a camera. Before the Peace Corps I had never taken more than a few pictures, so a camera wasn't exactly topping my list of "essentials." Still, it seemed like a practical item to bring on a once in a lifetime adventure. I packed the camera, replacing my 3.5 gallon vinyl sunshower, and don't regret it for a second. In Burkina I developed a love for photography, and realized that photography is really a way of honoring the things we find beautiful. I'm very grateful that I was able to witness Burkina's natural beauty, it's culture, and it's people.
This website is a collection of photographs taken during my Peace Corps service in Burkina Faso from 2001-2003. During those two years I worked as a physics/chemistry teacher at a secondary school in a village named Kouka. Since then, I have continued to combine photography with travel. I am now backpacking in South America, while applying for a second assignment with the Peace Corps. You can see more of my photos at www.MattPhoto.com
Contact
- Matthew McClure
-
- Geneva New York
- United States 14456
-
- 3157896283
