Mama Nyuamungna, Rwandan Refugee Camp, Lumnusi, Tanzania 1994

Fazal Sheikh made this photograph, Mama Nyuamungna, in a Rwandan refugee camp, in Tanzania. It is captured in tones of grey, and soft light. I imagine Sheikh carefully framing this shot, seeing Mama Nyuamungna sitting, her hand gently touching her face. It is such a simple, intimate gesture. What was she thinking at that moment? Was she thinking about where she had come from, or where she might go next? Her dress drapes around her knees in beautiful patterned folds, like a gentle wave. We can see that her feet are bare, her toes in the dust. Mama Nyuamungna is just sitting in a clearing, in front of what might be her dwelling. A space of rest. It reminds me of work by other photographers, like Dorothea Lange, who captured the hardships of people during the Great Depression. There is a long history of artists documenting the lives of those who are displaced, sharing their stories and experiences across time and place. Each image becomes another piece of an ongoing conversation.