In Conakry they called me Princess (2011)

In Conakry they called me Princess is part of the ‘Status: Undocumented’ project in which I am photographing personal motivations of illegal migration in Europe. In Conakry they called me Princess is the story of Mabintou, a 25-year-old girl from Guinea Conakry who lived as a ‘Sans Papiers’ in Paris. Detained and violated while participating in a student demonstration against the dictatorial regime of Lansana Conté, she decided to flee to France after her release. Now seven years in Paris, without any future consistency she has not lost her political activism, following the political developments in Guinea where the history of violence and instability repeats itself constantly, fighting the France system for recognition of the people without papers. Her personal album pictures in this multimedia are a showcase of romanticizing the past, used to connect different times and places with each other.

In Conakry they called me Princess was a collaboration with Michelle Hamers who produced, translated and edited the multimedia. In 2011 In Conakry they called me Princess was exhibited in The Humanity House in The Hague. Some of the work was also on display during Visa pour l’image in Perpignan.