Travel Diary: Delphine Diallo Captures a Timeless Way of Living in Senegal

The French-Senegalese photographer shares beautiful images of everyday life in Senegal with OkayAfrica.

delphine diallo
Photo by Delphine Diallo's mother.

We know you've stumbled on French-Senegalese artist and photographer Delphine Diallo's Instagram page at least once.

Beautiful and impeccably curated, right?

We touched base with Diallo and she shared with us photos of her recent trip to Senegal.


"I took most of these photos in Kolda, Dakar, Ngor Island and Saint Louis du Senegal," she says. "Every year, I go back to see my family and spend a lot of time to just be present and forget about the time. It's a different way of living."

"People are sharing, they're caring and have a different understanding of of time than that of the Western world," she adds. "Even so, Dakar is becoming a very busy city for work—so Saint Louis is a timeless place where the young and old know how to share space and care for each other."

We totally see where Diallo is coming from based on the images she captured of kids living their best lives at the beach, family meals and glimpses of everyday life. This perspective is needed as we constantly see glamorized images of traveling to the continent.

Take a look at a selection of images from her travels around Senegal below.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

Artist Abdoulay Diallo at his studio in Ngor Island.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

The beach at Ngor Island.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

A collage of archived photographs from the French colonization era in Cameroon, Mali and Congo.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

Kids playing at Saint Louis du Senegal.

Kids playing at the river in Saint Louis du Senegal.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

The Kankourang ritual in Kolda City.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

Artist Meissa Fall at his studio in Saint Louis.

Photo by Delphine Diallo

My cousin cooking thieboudienne in Saint Louis.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

An old woman on the street in Saint Louis.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

Peuls on my way to Saint Louis.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

I stumbled on this poster inside a hair salon in Kolda City.

Photo by Delphine Diallo.

A young man in Saint Louis du Senegal.

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