In West Africa, the term view commonly refers to a photograph. Yet a view of the mind belongs to another realm — that of mental imagery, symbols, and cultural heritage. It reminds us that our gaze is never neutral; it is constantly shaped by education, religion, culture, and the dynamics of power.

This work questions those so-called universal religious images d’Épinal — visual clichés inherited from Western iconography that established themselves as the dominant model of the sacred. Spread widely through colonization and evangelization, these representations helped reshape African imaginaries, replacing local depictions of the divine with bodies, faces, and symbols from elsewhere. Such visual imposition carries deep consequences. It subtly informs how one perceives oneself and others, inscribing — almost unconsciously — a hierarchy within notions of beauty, purity, and holiness. It molds the gaze even before language takes form, defining invisible frameworks of recognition and legitimacy.

By revisiting these images, I aim to uncover what they have erased or rendered invisible: other cosmologies, other forms of transcendence, other ways of representing oneself. The resulting portraits draw from Christian iconography while merging elements from other beliefs and traditions, allowing a plural reading of the sacred to emerge.