NEW YORK, NY.- In late 2013, photographer Stephan Würth embarked on a whirlwind road trip across Burundi, a small landlocked nation in the heart of East Africa bordering Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The people of Burundi, who are among the poorest in Africa, have borne witness to decades of civil war and ethnic clashes since the country became independent in 1962. Today, after a ten-year period of relative peace, there is mounting fear that the country is once again sliding into ethnic conflict.
During his visit, Würth sought to avoid the complexities of regional politics and tribal hierarchies. Instead, he turned his lens on a side of the country that is unseen and not reported. He was drawn to what the locals refer to as "bike taxi-men," that can be seen everywhere weaving in and out of the bustling city streets and vibrant open air markets of the country's capital, Bujumbura, transporting everything from human passengers, to bursting bundles of sweet bananas and sugar cane, to bedroom sets and bricks.
Snapping images on his iPhone during his journey through towns and the country's lush, hilly interior, Würth's images reveal the integral role the bicycle -- or ikinga -- plays in Burundi culture. These intimate, at times playful, photographs illuminate positive aspects of daily life -- marked by resourcefulness and an entrepreneurial spirit -- that are overshadowed by the ongoing struggles that have dominated this war torn nation.
In his essay, Joseph Akel writes: "... while the history of Burundi and its legacy of civil war and ethnic conflict cannot be ignored, Würth's photographs, far from eschewing this legacy, offer new insights into how the nation strives to overcome its past by presenting a unique glimpse into life there today ... the bicycle has become a potent symbol of how that change is playing out."
With a candid eye that recalls Walker Evans' surreptitious subway shots of New York in the 1930s, Würth's photographs reveal a lively, inventive and entrenched bicycle culture that is vital not only to Burundi's economy, but also to the daily survival of its countrymen. Ikinga is a bold meditation upon the power of creativity and improvisation during times of great difficulty.
Akel concludes: "Ultimately, what come across in the photographs that make up ikinga is the resilient human face of a country that has, for too long occupied a place in our collective imagination as a land in inhumanity."
Stephan Würth is a photographer originally from Germany who grew up between Munich, Texas and California. He discovered photography at age fourteen during a family vacation in Spain; his favorite subjects were sunbathing women on the Costa del Sol. In 2000, he enrolled in the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale to study photography, and after graduating, became a full time photographer. Since then, his work has been featured in international editions of Vogue, The New York Times, Porter Magazine, GQ, Playboy, Esquire, and Sports Illustrated, among other publications.
In 2011, Stephan released his first book Ghost Town published by Damiani. His new title ikinga will be published by Damiani in the spring of 2016.
