We’d been surprised and a little hurt by the local’s reactions to our presence at Banjul Market. As soon as we took our cameras out, vendors shook their heads or waved their hands in disapproval. I was trying to take a photo of the market scene; the colours, the fruits I did not recognise, and even though no one was in my photos, people were not happy. After a lady we had been speaking to about her fish gave permission for us to photograph them, she pulled a sheet up and over her head so that no part of her would accidentally be in frame. I wondered if it was a religious or superstitious belief which prompted her avoidance of the shot? “They think you will exploit them,” said the guide.”They think you will sell the pictures back home and they will see none of the profits.” Trying to explain this was not the case to every vendor would have been a very long process, so we put our cameras away and focused on shopping instead.

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