Danish photographer Kim Thue is the type of person who would commonly be referred to as a badass. He has spent the past few years shooting in Big Wharf, one of the the biggest and most dangerous slums of Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the locals affectionately call him "The Notorious K.I.M." The gritty black and white photos he took during his travels in west Africa have now been collected in the ominously dubbed Dead Traffic, a new photo book that is being published by Dienacht.
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Here's what Kim had to say about his new book in a recent interview:"Despite Sierra Leone being renowned for its brutal civil war, I didn’t have a hidden political agenda, a specific humanitarian issue, or even a clear story in mind whilst making the book. I went to Freetown, not as a photojournalist, but as a stranger with a camera and an open heart. What I hope to have created is something the viewer can tune in to emotionally. Something that hits a nerve without being coercive in nature, and without staking a monopoly on a specific kind of truth. A collection of images simply suggesting that the inextricable coexistence of beauty and dread is an ever present theme within this vigorous and inclement city."Kim Thue will celebrate Dead Traffic with an opening at theFreelens Gallery in Hamburg this Thursday, which will be followed by a six-week exhibition in the gallery. You can pre-order the book here, watch a video here, read an interview here, and follow Kim's work at Prospekt Agency.
