THE CAPTIVATING PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK OF CONGOLESE PHOTOGRAPHER SERGE GATIEN SITA VALLONI!

All the pictures featured here are courtesy of l'Atelier Photographique (click on the link)Dibiterie ,poverty, persistance,courage,dirt are words that come up to
my mind when I look at this pic

Tradition and pride

Laugh,friendship,carefree...

Courage mon frere

Rainiy season and its share of poto poto as we call it in Mali

Brigadier sabari...

La fete & Congolese people

Speechless!!

I love the photographic work of Congolese photographer Serge Gatien Sita Valloni.
I've been looking for more info about the man behind the lenses but it was quite hard to find any.
What I gathered however is that growing up in Brazzaville he was in love with camera and would ask photographers to take pics of him regularly until one day his mama got tired and bought him a cheap camera. Later on,his uncle gave him a much advanced camera thus started his discovery and photo/documentary of his people.
He used his camera to capture people's souls, their moods, their daily strugges, their lives..
When I look at his pics, it's clear that they are not rehearsed, they are natural shots, I get to see the way some people live in Brazza and it reminds me of Dakar.
The dibiteries, the poverty, the courage, the party atmosphere, tradition ...are all things that you will find here.
Kudos to you brotha:)
If you would like to see more of his work, click HERE

Djaa my Congolese brothas sont dedans:)
Eyeee Wayeee:)

AFRIKIYO,PANAFRICAN CHOIR IN DAKAR SENEGAL!

Goree & its love for color

Over 200 chorists were on the Island

2 weather was perfect

Choeurs Pro

Rica & Bigue

Goree a place where souls cried,laughed but sang during the suffering , the solitude,the fear…..songs of freedom,of redemption,songs of hope..Goree!

That’s the place the panafrican choir Afrikiyo chose to host their first anual Afrikiyo festival,and it was lovelyyyyy..the weather was on point, the different choirs were on point, they sang in french in woloff,in serere,in english, zulu but most importantly they sang from the heart.

Afrikiyo is a multicultural” happy” group of people of all ages,sizes,colors,ethinicities but they all share this love for God whether Muslim or Christian,whether Congolese or Cap Verdean..they know that the only constant thing in life is our love for the Allmighty.

Watching them support each other,giggle and smile with each other one can def’ tell that they enjoy this special gift that is singing in harmony.

Special mention to their president Evelyne Damas who’s doing an awesome job with this choir..makes me wanna join..but noo can’t sing lol:)

Prior to the concert various choirs from Senegal were invited for a week to spend some time on the Island 2 learn more abt what it takes to be in a choir,to lead a choir..it’s clear that they take it seriously:)

Don’t get me wrong we were not facing people that aren’t living on earth,no!they dance and by dance I mean dance.We def’ got a treat when the men choir called “Choeur Pro” showed us that they could wine and dance just as much as the ladies..in moderation people lol..just enough and with class..:)

My friend Rica, her baby,her sis in law Bigue and I had enjoyed ourselves as much as the rest of the mixed public.The “spirit” was def’ in the place, if you are in the Dakar area and you can catch them , do not hesitate doooo,you won’t regret it..for sure:)

Here’s their webbie:

http://afrikiyo.ning.com/

You can also catch a video of the choir singing ,HERE

Yaye

PEROLA..ANGOLAN SISTA SING YOUR SONGS GIRL!

Vraiment jolie cette jeune femme

This woman is gorgeoooous !!
Jandira Sassingui,AKA Perola is an Angolan singer who sings R&B meets Kizomba. She won a Kora Award in 2005 for the category :best southern african female artist.
I don't speak Portuguese lol so it was quite hard figuring out what this woman was abt since most info abt her is in Portuguese (Pelora's people translation pleaseee) but anywhoo I gathered that she lived in Namibia,Angola, South Africa. Apart from music and the obtention of her university degree, she did a lot of tv work. She was the host of Big Brother Africa in 2007, she participated in various musical festivals in Angola, and South Africa...

Her latest cd is called Cara & Coroa..it seems like she's active so hopefuly we'll hear more abt her internationally in the futur:)
Here's her webbie:
www.perola.info
You can check out her video for Doida, HERE (I added it to the blog playlist as well:)

Djaa my Angolan sistas sont dedans:)
Eyeee Wayee:)

HONEYMOON IN NORTH AFRICA,WHAT ABOUT DAR SABRI?

Love this pic

La Suite Argent

Wouldn't u love chilling there?:)

Fully modern kitchen

You guessed it ,the place is quite modern

Souki Souki (lol)

Def would feel like you were part of a fairy tale

Mmmm...

La Suite Or

Yes I'm dreaming def' can't afford this 130-200 Euros/night lovely place but it's so beautiful and dreamy that I figured I would share it with you guys, perhaps you can afford if yes please take me with you..I promise I'll be silent lol
I love this concept by Tunisian painter Amar Ben Belgacem, he wanted to create a luxurious yet comft' place for upscale tourists so that if they wanted to visit his country they could have the option of Dar Sabri.
The house can host 10 people with four suites and a complimentary bedroom. Each suite has its Oriental/modern comfort theme ..
There's a cool pool and hammam area available, also for the price you pay you'll get the usual perks that come with staying at a great hotel:concierge, cleaning, cooking lessons,internet connection,car service,pressing ect ...
The cool thing that I like abt this concept is that Belgacem used the services of local Tunisian artisans, which showcase their work and if you are interested at the end of your stay at this Nabeul Medina well....to your wallets :)

www.dar-sabri.com

Djaa my Tunisian people sont dedans:)
Eyeee Wayee:)

KELLY MOREIRA, LA CAP VERDEAN NEGRA WALKING HER DESTINY WITH STYLE FROM NY TO MILAN!

Very Pretty

Black & White Raye

Elle est jolie hein

Chapurin Fall/Winter 2010

Elite Model Card

Beauty Editorial

Antonio Maras/Fall 2010

Teen Vogue Editorial

Her campaign for Uniqlo brand

Miss Moreira is an 18 years old lucky young lady, picture this you want to model, you've been told by your entourage that you should but you are shy and not quite sure how u can make it..so come in the Elite /France annual competition looking for you, so what do you do?

If you have the guts a la Kelly you send in phone pics of yourself online, and if the stars are aligned you get picked and become of the top finalist. You don't win the competition but guess what a casting director is smitten by you so here you are modelling for Yves St Laurent, Lanvin..flying to NY to Milan ect..Bref you get the picture miss Kelly was made to model, but for that she also has to thank her team of friends who created a fan page on facebook for her, they went on a campaign to get their "sista" elected during the Elite competition. (mind you she was also preppin for her bacaulaureate degree)

Kelly wanted to pursue a degree in foreign languages but with her international career it's quite difficult to juggle both so for now she's focusing on the modelling career.
As of now she got 2 main campaigns Uniquo and a home equipment campaign, those are important to her because not only is she proud to see her ads but that's where the real income comes in.
Looking forward to seeing more in the future cosmopolite fashion shows
Take a look at her fan page : HERE

Djaa my Cap Verdean sistas sont dedans :)
Eyeee Wayeee:)

MY REVIEW OF THE RESTAURANT L'ENDROIT, DAKAR SENEGAL!

Miss Sophie & I's friendship time over lunch

Sophie had chicken and atieke (Ivoirian dish)

Please try the pilli pilli shrimp if you do go

So my friend Sophie and I decided to have lunch a L’Endroit a panafrican restaurant by la VDN in Dakar. I had been there be once at night to catch Phillipe Monteiro and his band

(awesome Cap Verdean singer), and it’s a total different atmosphere. At nights, it turns into a warm place, loud very loud actually with groups of friends who come together to eat , drink, laugh and dance even bare -foot lol..

So back to my lunch with the very beautiful friend Sophie.... We started of with appetizers, we both chose the pilli pilli shrimp dish (delicious ) I would recomend it , a bit spicy but really really, good.

The restaurant serves both occidental and african food. I was in the mood for occidental but after tasting Sophie’s dish I would recomend the African food, there’s a bit of Ivoirian cusine feel to their menu..so if you are in the mood for that ..do go there:)

Here’s their info:

SICAP, VDN 4440 VDN Amitié
Tél. : 33 824 6425

Yaye

SENEGALESE BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR, AND SKIN CARE LINE OWNER, AWA LODMELL!

Nice and clean packaging

I was watching the "Awa Show" on your youtube channel and it was clear that this woma loves herself, loves HER life and is passionate about her business. She started her organic skin care line with her doctor after experiencing post-partum depression.
During her healing period, they worked closely together and the result is an organic line of100% chemical free,rejuvenating products.
They sell body& face creams and soaps,
facial rejuvenators,antioxidant skin renewal moisturizing creams.
Their products are made up of coconut oil,avocado butter,herbal oils,fruits and herbal extracts,aloe vera, palm butter...bref all those ingredients that would work into giving you a glow.
What strucks about this entrepreneur is her passion , you can tell that she believes in her line, the benefits of using her products ect...
Here's the webbie:
http://www.awaskincare.com
Here's her youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AwaSkinCare

Djaa my Senegalese sistas sont dedans:)
Eyeee Wayee:)