His name recalls his French origins, but for nearly fifteen years, this French national has been “Senegalized”. Lionel Mandeix, on whom Dialogue Migrant focuses his camera in this portrait-article, is the official photographer of the President of the Republic, Macky Sall, since 2017. The man admits to having sailed 10 years in France and 5 years in China before depositing his films in Africa, more precisely in Senegal.

Difficult and controversial beginnings in the country of Teranga

Dialogue Migration got in touch with the man who validated the entry of this French national to the Palace of the Republic of Senegal. Mamadou Thiam, gives the reasons for his recruitment and how Lionel became, over time, the official photographer of President Macky Sall.

“I was the one who recruited Lionel, with all the uproar it caused at the time. I had to bring together the team I lead to see what skills are required and what skills are real. And in Human Resources, this is where the training plan comes in to close the gaps between the skills we need and those actually acquired by staff. It was in this sense that Lionel had been recruited, first to train the photographers (of the Palace)”, confides this official who coordinates the Communication Unit of the Presidency of Senegal. He adds: “Because a photographer, nowadays, does not only master photography. You must also master editing software. So, it became a more complex profession.”

Indeed, as Mr. Thiam points out, the recruitment of Lionel Mandeix was accompanied by a wave of indignation. On the eve of the 2019 presidential election, Senegalese photographers denounced the hiring of a “white European” who came to take the bread out of their mouths. Attacks on him have multiplied in the national press. Especially after the leak in the press of a criticism deemed disrespectful to Senegalese photographers sidelined for his benefit. On the grounds of the exclusion, he would have dropped this: “poor quality of photos, lack of mastery of certain photo processing software, lack of control of the position in some of its aspects …”

At the time, the renowned Beninese photojournalist, Erick-Christian Sèdo Ahounou, formerly with Agence France Presse and winner of several International Photojournalism Awards, had stepped up to the plate to put things back in place. “If this is really what Mr. Mandeix said, I find the sentence discourteous and do not approve it at all. Service supplier and trainer, let him play his role, but talking about other colleagues in this way is problematic. I recognize Lionel’s qualities as an excellent photographer, but Senegal is also full of excellent ones. The myth of the White or the White complex is another Senegalese problem. Some mentalities are to be decolonized,” he said  in a forum widely circulated in the Senegalese press.

The one who operates between Cotonou and Dakar had added this to the Senegalese photographers: “Colleagues of the Presidency certainly need to be re-trained, but the methodology used is far from being the right one. Photography, like many other professions, especially today, with technology evolving at a high speed, is a matter of updating oneself, be competitive and efficient. Colleagues, instead of sleeping on the title, should have asked for this additional retraining, to better wear their new clothes. »

In an article in the Senegalese daily Kritik, published on March 22, 2019, Lionel Mandeix is accused of publishing on his social networks images that were to remain secret in the archives of the Palace.

“He chose to live in Senegal”

Lionel Mandeix still seems marked by this very troubled period of protests and attacks against him in the Senegalese press and on social networks. The proof, when contacted by Dialogue Migration, to talk about his ties and his attachment to Senegal, he expressed the wish not to speak. “Lest my words be misused and interpreted for political purposes, I prefer to remain silent. Because whatever I can say about myself, it’s going to get people talking,” he says on the other end of the phone.

However, he is not a man to easily divert from his “Lenses”. Lionel was still able to impose himself. But also integrate well into Senegalese society. And what could be stronger than establishing the blood link to forge its anchorage in a community.

“Lionel, even though I don’t have a very personal relationship with him, I have a good professional relationship with the man. But from what I know, he chose to live in Senegal for several years, to work in Senegal, to invest in Senegal. Because Lionel is an entrepreneur. He has a communication agency that is based in Dakar,” says, Mamadou Thiam, one of the Com’s gentlemen of the Presidency of Senegal.

Before adding by way of additional information, as if to reinforce Lionel’s integration into Senegalese society: “Now, the simple fact for me, that a person decides to come and settle in Senegal, to invest there, to live there, to marry a Senegalese, these are already very positive marks in relation to his commitment and his anchoring in this country. He has a son who is Senegalese, he employs Senegalese, pays his taxes in Senegal.”

Based in Dakar, frequently intervening in Europe and Asia, via his communication company, Lionel Mandeix has been present, working for 30 years in the field of images and film.