Hands Behind the Doors IV (Tanzania, Zanzibar)

In Zanzibar, the carving of traditional wooden doors—an emblematic element of Swahili architecture—continues in a few workshops where each piece is hand-carved. This ancestral art, nourished by African, Indian, and Arab influences, relies on demanding oral transmission and precision in each gesture. The wood species used— salt-resistant teak , warm-grained mninga , or softer but fragile mkongo —dictate the complexity of the design: arabesques, geometric frames, or floral calligraphy.

These skills, long a vector of identity and prestige, are today weakened by rapid urbanization, the scarcity of local woods and the standardization of construction. This photograph documents a craftsman at work, in a subtle balance between patience, memory and mastery of wood , at a time when preserving these practices is becoming a cultural as well as ecological necessity.