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In the last post from West Africa, I introduced you to Emmanuel Kamate of Mali. Emmanuel runs a convenience store in the capital city, Bamako. The store has everything you might need to get you through the day; eggs, sugar, cooking oil, powdered milk and bread (in bags on the counter).

An introduction in Mali is only complete after everyone has been given a good humored ribbing over their traditional background, revealed by their last name. The name Kamate comes from an ethnic group known as the Bobo who are farmers by tradition. Emmanuel was born in 1972 and went to school through the sixth grade. read more »

Back to Africa

Well, I’m still not done with Week 3!  Actually, far from it.  I have one more post from Segou, which was only our first stop that week. After Segou comes our tour of  Dogon, a wedding in Sangha, our adventurous return navigating across the desert by GPS and an evening by the river in Mopti.  Before we get to all that however, I want to illustrate everyday working life in Mali.  This is the first of two seperate interviews with two men living and working in the capital city of Bamako, Mali.

Emmanuel Kamate

Emmanuel Kamate  is a business man.  He runs a small store in the capital city of Bamako. Our equivalent would be called a convenience store, the French equivalent might be called a boutique. If you look closely, you can see that neither description probably fits.  The way most Malians purchase certain supplies is quite different than what we are accustomed to. But that is only part of this story – the part that outlines our differences.  The rest of the story is about Emmanuel, his family, and his friends. The story of a man providing for his family and for his children. That story has been told many times.  But because the story is so common, I think it brings the power of perspective into our own lives. I think it speaks to why sometimes we do things we don’t want to do – because others are counting on us.  For most of us, we wouldn’t have it any other way either.  So stay tuned for more about Emmanuel and his family and his friends in the next post…

Stay Committed!

Ed.

The job? Capture a portrait for the back credits area of a new music CD. The hope? Get a shot that could be used for the cover. How? Solve problems.

I was able to talk with DF Michael beforehand to plan a few shots that would work for the back credit area. During our conversation, I learned how important it was for Michael to prominently feature his guitar, a treasured gift hand crafted by his brother in Italy. The problem would be getting the guitar close to Michael’s face while still looking natural.

So first we worked on getting these planned shots:

Then I asked Michael if we could try an idea I’d been thinking about. read more »

A friend of mine, Alan Adyniec, introduced me to the idea of using the coaching model to organize people and their efforts instead of other more traditional styles of management.  I have to admit, it sounds like more fun than your garden variety “beatings will continue until morale improves” type of management – maybe more like going for a walk with a friend?

If you’re in a position or know someone in a position where this type of model could help produce better business results, Alan is holding a half-day seminar where he’s teaching the essentials for Coaching Employee Performance.  The seminar is on Wednesday, June 4th. Click the link to register.

If you take the plunge, be sure to mention that you found him here. Alan is offering a free one-on-one follow up session to readers of this post to help you develop a coaching process within your work area. Oh, and be sure to register soon. The early-bird special expires this Friday.

How is this related to photography you might ask? The photos are a result of my portrait session with Alan!

Enjoy! Ed.