Is it safe?

Is it Safe? by interdisciplinary scholar Naa Oyo A. Kwate, interrogates ideas about race, perceived safety, and urban landscapes. Marseille, France has a reputation for danger and disorder, in large part due to its Black and Brown population. It is rarely seen as the “real France” embodied in cultural images of baguettes and wine or in the quaint village lanes of Provence, where Marseille is located. Tersely dismissed not only as a vacation destination but also as a tenable choice for those relocating to France, Marseille is saddled with a persistent, one-note caricature. In Is It Safe? Kwate juxtaposes her photography of Marseille’s streets against the anxious discourse of travelers seeking information from online forums about the city’s risks and rewards. For those venturing to the city for the first time, the tenor of the inquiries coheres around a single paranoid fear: “Is Marseille dangerous?”

Self-published by the author in an edition of 100.

Indie Publishing, Chat Forums, Artbook