Think Positive Flamboya

Francisca

Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen was born in Africa, returning to her homeland as a child with her family. Within her remained a strong bond with the land in which she had come to know the world. As she grew up she held onto vivid memories of the country, many evolving with the power of nostalgia and imagination. Returning as an adult in 2002, and many times since, Viviane has set herself a new perspective of Africa and detach from the romantic ideas she had come to as a child.

‘Flamboya’ is the series of photographs by the Dutch artist, named after the tree that blossoms deep-red flowers across the south and the east of the continent in December. Rich in colour and deep in contrast the photographs are not intended as a documentary, rather as a symbolic gesture of the artist’s own perception of African, in a conscious effort to detach herself from her own exotic and romantic idealisms.