Les mains qui cultivent

Les mains qui cultivent documents coffee farming in Uganda through black and white images focused on manual labor. Drawing from the photographer’s Congolese family history of coffee cultivation, the project explores work as a collective, embodied practice

Les mains qui cultivent is a photographic project developed during my final year at ESA Le 75 in Brussels. At the time, I was working as a barista, surrounded by coffee as a finished product, while feeling disconnected from its origins. This distance created a need to reconnect with my roots and better understand the material I was handling every day.

My family has a history of coffee cultivation in Congo, and traveling to Uganda felt like an accessible point of return. Existing connections there allowed me to spend time with farmers and observe the rhythms of cultivation from within daily life. The project grew from this experience, shaped by proximity, time, and repetition.

Shot in black and white, the series focuses on manual labor, gestures, and physical presence. It approaches coffee farming as a collective and embodied practice rather than a personal narrative.

Although complex to carry emotionally, this project opened important opportunities and conversations within my practice. I wish to continue presenting it publicly, through exhibitions and discussions, as it remains a central and formative part of my work.