Coast beat (Senegal, MBour)

On the beaches of the Senegalese coast, artisanal fishing canoes, several meters long and hand-painted, form a shimmering fleet with names etched in the collective memory. These boats, listed as intangible heritage, are not simple tools: they are symbols of subsistence, transmission, and territorial anchoring.

In M'Bour, they welcome a bustling ballet every morning: fishermen, fishmongers, fishmongers, children carrying fish, men with baskets of sea urchins or sardines. The beach becomes a market, a stage, a meeting place—but also a place of tension.

Because these same canoes, designed for fishing, are sometimes requisitioned for clandestine crossings to Europe. Between a tool of life and a vehicle of exile , they crystallize a paradox: that of a shore where abundance rubs shoulders with forced departure, and where the ocean is both a resource and a frontier.

This photograph was selected by the prestigious international gallery 1X.com, which recognizes works for their aesthetic and documentary value.