“You could say that I found myself in Mali as an accidental tourist. A chain of events that began at my local brasserie- a long story- took me half way across the world to West Africa and into the Sahara Desert. Armed with a yellow fever shot and four cameras I flew to Mali as a volunteer for The Festival Au Desert, the annual gathering of the Touareg Nomads at Essakene, in the Sahara”.
Such begins Bryony Shearmur’s trek through Mali and the featured photographic collection that encompasses her experience.
“Africa holds the sorrow and hope of the entire world. To go is to fall in love and have your heart break all at once, over and over. This is what Bryony’s photographs so exquisitely capture,” says Henry Rollins in his foreword to the exhibit catalog “Ode to Mali”.

Bryony Shearmur is a London-born, LA-based fine art photographer, whose passion for picture making began at age 11 when she saved up to buy her first camera, a Nikon FM2, that she uses to this day.

A&I Hollywood, June 18– July 24, 2009
A&I Santa Monica, July 27- Sept 4, 2009

To view or purchase this exhibit’s accompanying fine art book, click here