Backstory: Capturing the Art of Crafts

I took this in Rwanda, where I went in 2008 with two charities, Tearfund UK and Compassion UK. They help children in third-world countries create products for export, to earn money for their communities. This child was making a basket by a window in a very dark class- room—there isn’t any electricity. I wanted to make people wonder about what’s going on in the image. This could be someone doing a task under extraordinarily difficult conditions for very little money; it could also be someone who has a skill and who enjoys working in his trade. For me, this image shows craftsmanship by a very young individual, using what materials he has, to make things he loves.
-Jide Alakija