Pastoralist Homes

<p><strong>An archive of a disappearing African architectural heritage, captured by the realist, reverent eye of Bullinger</strong></p><p>Since 2008, German photographer Winfried Bullinger (born 1965) has traveled around Eastern and Central Africa, capturing the vernacular architecture of these regions. In this physical archive of his long-term project, Bullinger portrays a diverse array of African pastoralists’ homes, including tents, open dwellings and huts. Despite their variety, the structures are all made from materials available directly on site; they are radically efficient and sustainable.<br>Implementing a silver-gelatin technique, Bullinger shoots with a large-format camera and honors the capricious natural light of day. Although he captures few inhabitants in his images, Bullinger records their many traces. Indeed, his photographs are born from a dialogue with the inhabitants and reveal architecture as a direct response, refined over centuries, to a people’s specific environment and culture. Bullinger’s conscientious formal and interpersonal decisions culminate in this valuable record of rapidly disappearing African architectural heritage.</p>