Baudouin Mouanda Ciel de saison (Seasonal Sky)
Chez la marchande de légumes (At the Vegetable Seller’s), 2020
Moukarata et ses deux enfants observent les nuages dans la cour inondée d’eau de pluie (Moukarata and His Two Children Watch the Clouds in the Courtyard Flooded with Rainwater), 2020
Une mère profite du soleil pour étendre la lessive dans la cour (A Mother Takes Advantage of the Sun to Hang Out Washing in the Courtyard), 2020
Une famille à table à l’heure du déjeuner, les pieds dans l’eau (A Family at Table at Lunchtime, Their Feet in the Water), 2020
Une marchande de rue de médicaments sous le joug des eaux de pluie (A Street Vendor of Medicines, Struggling in the Rainwater), 2020
Brunette et ses trois enfants, inquiets des inondations (Brunette and Her Three Children, Worried About the Floods), 2020
Anna, jeune enseignante, occupe les enfants à reviser leurs leçons (Anna, a Young Teacher, Keeps the Children Busy Revising for Their Lessons), 2020
Moukarata et son épouse s’efforcent d’évacuer l’eau de la cour (Moukarata and His Wife Struggle to Remove Water from the Courtyard), 2020
Une famille attend dans le salon que les eaux de pluie s’évacuent (A Family Wait in Their Living Room for the Rainwater to Drain Away), 2020
Un couple dans leur concession inondée (A Couple in Their Flooded Compound), 2020
Artist's statement
This series was born from the severe weather resulting from climate change that Africa has been experiencing in recent years. It is based on real events during the floods that affected numerous families in Brazzaville during lockdown in 2020. These photographs serve as a reminder of the need to preserve and respect the environment or face reprisals from nature. The seasons have changed, the threat from the rains is permanent. The leaves and dust that fall on the roof call on the residents to be vigilant.
When thunder arrives at night, no one dares shut themselves indoors, everyone is outside keeping watch on the sky. They try to guess the scale of the threat from the rain and, great or small, it will be an unwelcome visitor in some neighbourhoods of Brazzaville. Children and adults alike find a shovel, a saucepan or a bucket to clear the sand and water that invade their living space; they try to create a dam against the torrents.
For the elderly, who have spent their lives working, preparing for retirement, building their homes, the effort seems futile. They salvage the remains of their possessions, gates, planks, sheets of metal, even if they no longer know where to go. They abandon homes invaded by the sandy waters, pointing a finger at the sky and saying, ‘God alone knows.’
Mouanda set out to draw attention to these phenomena and to raise awareness of the dangers of climate change. During the floods, it was impossible to get into the streets and districts invaded by the rainwater and blocked by fallen electrical cables. Later, to recount the difficulties encountered by residents, Mouanda departed from the documentary format. He took his camera, remembering every detail of the places he visited – schools, hospitals, pharmacies – and gathered personal testimonies to reconstruct the spectacle of desolation.
The residents of the inundated neighbourhoods agreed to bring their belongings and pose in a flooded basement to recreate the situations they faced. It is thanks to them that this project saw the light of day.
All artwork courtesy of the artist.
About the photographer
Ouésso, Congo, 1981
Congolese
Brazzaville, Congo
About Baudouin Mouanda
Mouanda started taking photographs in 1993, using his father’s Zenit camera. He was soon working for local papers, chronicling life in Brazzaville. He turned away from conventional photographer’s work, such as family portraits and souvenir photographs, to focus on the history of his country and the consequences of the repeated wars in both Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is equally known for photographs of daily life in Congo and wider themes including climate and education.
Mouanda’s series Les séquelles de la guerre (The Legacy of War), mainly shot in Kinshasa, DRC, was exhibited at Rencontres de Bamako, Mali, in 2009, where he won the Young Talent Award. This led to his acceptance to a photojournalism course at the Centre de formation et de perfectionnement des journalistes, Paris. His encounter there with a society of extravagantly dressed Congolese dandies led to his successful series Sapeurs, shot in Brazzaville.
Work by Mouanda has been exhibited at numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally, including at Gasworks, London (2011); MIA Gallery, Seattle, Washington (2013) and the Breda International Photo Festival, Netherlands (2016).
He has won numerous prizes, including the Central Africa category in the 2011 African Beauty in All Its States Award, presented by the African Union and the European Union; and the Prix Roger-Pic, Paris, in 2022.
HHe works regularly with news publications including Jeune Afrique, Planète jeune, Afrique Magazine, Le Monde, L’Express styles, VSD and L’Humanité. Mouanda is co-founder of the Brazzaville-based community photography collective Génération Elili.
He is also working on a project to build a new photography centre called ClassPro Culture to serve communities in outlying areas that lack cultural facilities. It is due to open at the start of the school year.
Shortlist
Takashi Arai, Exposed in a Hundred Suns, 2011– ongoing
Marina Caneve, Are They Rocks or Clouds?, 2015–19
Tom Fecht, Luciferines — entre chien et loup (Luciferines — Between Dog and Wolf), 2015–25
Balazs Gardi, The Storm, 2020–21
Roberto Huarcaya, Amazogramas, 2014
Alfredo Jaar, The End, 2025
Belal Khaled, Hands Tell Stories, 2023–24
Hannah Modigh, Hurricane Season, 2012–16
Baudouin Mouanda, Ciel de saison (Seasonal Sky), 2020
Camille Seaman, The Big Cloud, 2008–14
Laetitia Vançon, Tribute to Odesa, 2022
Patrizia Zelano, Acqua Alta a Venezia (High Water in Venice), 2019