The Value We Cannot See - Sacred Forests in West Africa

Faramfàcce

The Value We Cannot See

Throughout Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Liberia, men and women guard forests and islands they say are sacred spots, where nature must be preserved at all costs.

Their way of seeing these spaces teaches us that the value of something is only determined based how we decide to measure it. And we can reimagine that unit of measurement to include something that preserves nature.

Artist Young Nuno painted surreal details within Ricci Shryock’s photographs of these spaces and their guardians to create scenes that are both real and imaginary at once. These mixed-media art images emphasize that sometimes, it’s our ability to see beyond what is right in front of us – to imagine what we cannot see – that defines us.