I took this with my point-and-shoot film camera sometime during 1995-7 when I served in U.S. Peace Corps in Guinea, West Africa. I despeckled it somewhat and converted it to grayscale in Photoshop, because I intend to do a pencil sketch of it someday.
Most of the tailors I encountered in Guinean towns were men, so I was impressed to see this young lady at the wheel (in case you didn't notice, that's a manually-operated treadle sewing machine). Her shop was in a town called Sougeta, a few hours by foot from my remote village of Donta in the western-central mountainous region of Guinea. I visited Sougeta weekly either on foot or motorbike to buy foodstuffs at the market, enjoy rice and sauce at my favorite rice "bar", and visit with my townie acquaintances.
I'll probably be posting some stories and more photos of my time there, as the experience had a powerful impact on me, and continues to influence me to this day.
