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Voodoo Ceremony
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Voodoo originated in present day Benin. It is the country's official religion and well over 50% of the Beninese are practitioners. Voodoo is strongest in the southern portion of the country and is all but absent in the far north.
When witnessing a Voodoo ceremony it is REALLY important that you get permission to take pictures... at the very most, you wouldn't want to offend a supra-natural being!!
As a visitor, you will have to be invited by someone to the ceremony. Naturally, he or she is a good person to ask, and if they don't know, surely they can find one of the religious leaders (human) that will give you the okay (or otherwise). I only saw one ceremony, so I'm not sure how likely it is for you to get permission.
Notes on the photo itself:
The four *things* that you are looking at are called "revenants" in French. You might translate the word into "spirit" in English, but whereas we generally think of "spirits" as being invisible, these are entirely corporal... they have 'come back' from the hereafter. (whatever you do, DO NOT touch them!)
Technicalities:
The lighting was poor at the ceremony & there was a lot of noise in the original photo. I've taken it out with a softener, which had the added benefit of creating a surreal mood to the photo. |
Liekje has marked this note useful
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