The seeds I planted in a box in my notebook represent my people- the memories I hold on tight to, engraved in my head with a golden pen and dark ink. They are memories of my lost child, cruelly taken from me by ugly death. My people have become other children’s lifeless bodies underneath the earth that I walk past to visit my daughter in their graves that ugly death has stolen. They are memories of exchanging Emilia’s earrings with mine as she lay lifeless in my arms, hoping it would keep us connected.
My people are those with whom I cried and who gave me wine so that I could sleep and forget that my baby was in a box not even six feet under. My people are my Zacharie, who keeps on lending me his strength to take each day as it comes but who suffers most from everything that comes with my depressed heart. My people are my then 4-year-old son, who pushed the fridge door closed to prevent me from drinking any more wine to drown my sorrow. How could a child understand these things?
The seeds I planted represent the people in my life. Some seeds bore plants, and others did not sprout at all. The first represents the joy that comes with the good things, and the latter is the sadness that bad happenings bring into our lives.
The black and then white pages represent what life is – the yin and the yang.
Chantal Edie was born in 1981 in Bangem, Cameroon. She has a master 1 in political sciences, a Bachelor in History from the University of Yaounde in Cameroon and an HND in health and social care from the Impact International College in Reading. She is not conventional and believes she can do anything she sets her mind to. No wonder she became an operations manager for a maritime company in Douala. She is currently a maritime consultant and artistic director of Studioxldouala, one of the most prestigious studios in Cameroon, which she runs with her partner. Her passion for photography sprang from the views she saw during her walks in a small village in Southampton, Bursledon. Chantal was a part of the Media workshop in Southampton, where she developed her photographic skills and participated in group exhibitions. She is also a blogger and the founder of African Woman in Photography, an online platform showcasing the work of African female photographers.
