Mask Dance Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

When I arrived in Mali, I just felt that this country was going to seduce me; and it did.

The "Pays Dogon" in the heart of the country is such a truly beautiful place. The landscape is impressive and reminds one somehow of the beginning of our civilisation. I guess that the primitive villages built around this rather rough looking landscape of rocks and hills enforce the feeling. The Dogon culture is still embedded in pure tradition as was the mask dance that I was lucky enough to witness.

Masked dance performances are held on the occasion of funerary rituals which are governed by the "Society of the Masks". This society gathers all circumcised men, young and old. Young boys become members after having been circumcised. Authority is established according to age and many members sculpt their own mask.

It's quit a privilege to witness this part of the Dogon culture and not all that common. The music, chant and drums sweeps up the dancers as they jump and dance around the village square. Under the burning sun, they wear a traditional costume and a heavy self carved wooden or bead mask. You can not (or hardly) see the eyes of the actual dancer, not through their masks nor through the beads, which makes it quit an overwhelming experience to stand eye in eye with them.

When the children of the village come close to the dancers, it doesn't take them much to scare the little ones away. I stood foot though; looked the event straight in the eye and bite through the dust as the dancers stamped their feet on the Dogon ground. I was swept away by their elegant, agile and primitive moves while the African drums were echoing through the village.

captainsgirl, luisafonso, Cormac, limule, Curioso, sayat, Mistral, happypoppeye has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

captainsgirl (3448) 2006-12-06 8:03

what a beautiful photo...I can almost see them dancing.The color and sharpness is amazing...great POV you had and glad you held your ground! :o)
TFS
Donna :o)

Cormac (26455) 2006-12-06 11:48

I wasn't sure what this was in the small version, but when I see the full size I understand. These are incredible masks, and to see them being used, instead of hanging on the wall, is wonderful. Thanks for sharing this great shot!

limule (3977) 2006-12-06 15:44

hello I agree with you, these are extrordinary people with a beautiful philosophy of life. Although everything is oral, all their story has been written by Marcel Griaule, a french guy, who was accepted by Dogons; The book is called Dieux d'eaux, and everything about their story, why they came in that part of africa, their beliefs and so on, i explained.

beautiful_mind (294) 2006-12-06 18:02

I like this amazing colors with them skins colors,very strange shot from africa,good work.

Curioso (9119) 2006-12-07 3:10

Splendid colorful scene. The saturation is extremely welcome in this scene. Without seeing the feet of the dancers, the way he stands do suggest he's performing a kind of dance, stamping theit feet on the ground as you wrote. That's really pleasing to see that. Well done Sabine.

luisafonso (858) 2006-12-07 3:25

The colors dear Sabine, the colors... So good. I love this shot mainly because the mask themselves have eyes. Without them I would be completely lost asking for an anchor. The light is amazing, but the colors once again are really superb. A note to enhance this is to use the classic portrait compo a place the "eyes" in the upper third. You had to give more space in the bottom thus needing a step behind... But the way it is it's very good too. The long ears justify the compo. Really good!

ALSOM (6616) 2006-12-07 5:39

"Ce matin, un lapin a tué un chasseur, c'était un lapin qui ..."

Je trouve cette photo réussie (en plus de la beauté des masques) avec la présence du rouge, vert et bleu (quoique je la trouve un légèrement saturée). Un joli echo dans la présence du masque dans le fond .... néanmoins je pense qu'on peut encore apporté un petit plus, surtout sur le 1er danseur, il y avait de quoi jouer sur le contraste sur son corps ou tête/bas du corps (de plus j'aurais sans doute fermé un peu plus pour éviter les hautes lumières du 2nd masque .... je pinaille)....

La seule frustration que j'aurais par rapport à la scène, il s'agit ici d'une danse, ici c'est un peu statique de part le cadrage et le choix d'exposition. J'aurais aimé avoir une compo plus dynamique, voir plus de gestuels, de mouvements (ici un/des bras) un léger floue des bras, de la têtes, etc ....

Avec "Exposure: f/4.5, 1/640 seconds" => il y avait des possibilités pour avoir une photo plus créative.

En résumé: bonne photo pour l'esprit TE ... mais parfois il faut oser (si on a envie bien sur ;o)) aller au delà de la carte-postale (rien de négatif cependant) !

A+,
Alain -

sayat (2944) 2006-12-07 8:32

Great colors and perfect composition. Thanks.
Sayat

nicoz (1963) 2006-12-08 7:13

Me again,
This one is much better I think for all the reasons I said before. The colors are awesome!
It looks like you've experience something amazing there!
Nicolas

Mistral (13776) 2006-12-11 15:06

Ciao Sabine,
it's a pleasure to see your images again... and read your great comments.
Your image is very well sharpen and the mask are well displayed in your image with tons of colours.
A smile for your new week.
Luca

marietom (32076) 2006-12-12 16:20

Jolie lumière, et belle image !
Marie

dsidwell (9745) 2006-12-13 9:20

Hello Sabine. This is marvelous the way you've captured the movement and magic and color of these dancers! Nice balance and excellent exposure here. Well done!

entrelec (8342) 2006-12-14 9:18

Alain est un peu dur...mais je le rejoins sur deux points: à mon goût ( et là c'est très perso)trop saturée, ensuite un peu statique , c'est vrai, bien que l'angle des deux masques par rapport à l'objectif soit vraiment plaisante.
Mais bon, c'est déjà de la très bonne photo et on attend la suite avec impatience.
Tu n'auras sans doute pas le temps, mais c'est quoi ton boulôt là-bas?
Merci pour ton comment sympa

Joel

oreyd (393) 2008-06-20 22:56