I spent 6 hours on the back of a moto today traveling to villages in the “interior”. Whenever I go to such remote locations I get lots of reactions from children like the one above. Pure terror at the sight of a white man.
In the towns like Nalerigu, the sight of a white man is a common, almost daily occurrence. In the interior, it is rare and many younger kids have never seen anyone of another race. It also doesn’t help that mothers and grandmothers tell their young ones tall tales and equate the white man to a boogie man of sorts. The classic “you’d better be good or else the boogie man will get you” sort of story.
So when I show up the kids think their worst nightmare has just come true. As far as capturing real emotion in a photograph, I’ve got that down pat.