After a mid-career change, photography became the focus of her life. After a number of trips to various African countries, she became aware how she valued the deeply internalised cultural values that continue to inform people’s lives right into the present. Earlier this year, Hanna visited Lamu, the oldest Swahili settlement on the East Coast of Africa, and found herself in a world that greatly differs from the one she is used to. No cars, no shoes – just a sarong and a T-shirt, streets that are still swept by women with grass brooms and donkeys with loaded baskets walking patiently beside the men they work with. The friendly words, ‘jambo’ (hallo) and ‘karibu’ (welcome) are on everyone’s lips, reflecting the human warmth that is typical of the island. Surrounded by a century-old culture, she discovered that taking photographs did not simply help her to understand the context better - it offered another perspective on her understanding of her own world.