Under the Lines

Under the Lines captures life beneath electrical infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. Power lines cross the skies, framing daily rhythms. These black and white images reveal the grid as both promise and presence in local communities.

Under the Lines

These photographs trace life conducted beneath electrical infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa - daily existence that unfolds under the grid’s geometric presence. Power lines cross overhead, and communities navigate the spaces below these networks of wire and promise.

The images capture moments of passage: figures walking illuminated dirt roads, birds silhouetted on cables, the interplay of artificial light with tropical darkness. The infrastructure is ever-present but not always reliable - a visible reminder of electricity’s uneven reach.

In black and white, the lines become stark graphical elements, intersecting with palm fronds, cutting across heavy skies, creating geometric patterns against organic forms. The contrast speaks to systems meeting: natural rhythms and engineered networks, growth and construction.

There’s an intimacy to these scenes - life lived under the literal and metaphorical presence of the grid. Nighttime illumination carves out pockets of visibility while shadows suggest what remains beyond reach. The lines overhead mark both achievement and aspiration, infrastructure that shapes how communities move through space and time.

This is a study of coexistence: human activity, avian rest, vegetation’s persistence, all conducted under lines that promise connectivity while revealing the material reality of power - who has it, when it flows, and how its presence reshapes the landscape below.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​