Le Monde

Lake Nyos: Documenting Tragedy and Resilience for Le Monde

I was commissioned by Le Monde, France’s prestigious national newspaper, to photograph the ongoing story of Lake Nyos in Cameroon—the site of one of the world’s most devastating natural disasters. In 1986, a limnic eruption released a massive cloud of carbon dioxide from the crater lake, killing approximately 2,000 people in nearby villages. Decades later, I traveled to this remote region in Cameroon’s northwest to document the lives of survivors and the slow, difficult process of recovery and return.

My photographs captured the haunting beauty of the lake itself, the communities still grappling with loss, and the delicate balance between remembering tragedy and rebuilding life. The assignment required sensitivity to the trauma experienced by residents while telling a story of resilience and the complex relationship between people and their environment. The resulting photo essay gave French and international readers an intimate look at a disaster largely forgotten by the world, but forever etched in the memory of those who survived it.