Entry Title: " Sena"
Name: Devin Tepleski, Canada
Category: Non-Professional, Portrait_P


Entry Description: This photo series consists of images of individuals and families from the area being flooded by Bui Dam, Ghana. The title 'Sena' translates to 'Where' and is a nod to the complete lack of transparency in all dealings surrounding the relocation or outright displacement. The communities have been warned for nearly forty years that this dam would be built, yet in all that time the government has failed to provide adequate details on relocation. Flooding of much of the farmland began in November 2009 diminishing food supplies.

The five submitted images are a selection from a collection of over fifty.

Proceeds from all sales go back to Bui.

Devin Tepleski is completing his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Victoria. He studied documentary filmmaking and anthropology at the University of Copenhagen. His art has been exhibited in Winnipeg, Canada at Platform Gallery and Next Thought and in Victoria, Canada at the [“University of Victoria”] Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria. He also has an upcoming show at Lúz Gallery, Victoria, Canada in the summer of 2010. He became involved with the villagers of Bui and other villages along the Black Volta River through a leading a larger multimedia project with archaeologist, Ann Stahl, PhD. The ‘Sena’ Portraits make up only a portion. Hours of video interviews and field recordings of local music were collected as part of a joint local history and advocacy project. Currently, Devin is working with that material to produce a short documentary film and has recently started a non-profit, 'Friends of the Bui Watershed'. He wishes to thank all those that made it possible: Dr. Ann Stahl, Dr. Andrea Walsh, National Museum of Ghana, University of Victoria, University of Ghana, Enoch and his family. Most importantly, this endeavor would not have been possible without the willing participants of Bui who offered their time and opened their hearts.