Artsy Spot » Africa

Akodessewa Fetish Market in Togo

sanela — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:19:54 +0000

Togo’s Akodessewa Fetish Market is recognized as the largest fetish market in the world, a place where Voodoo practitioner can find anything they need for their rituals. The practice of voodoo began in West Africa, before being taken to America by slaves, and in countries like Togo, Ghana, or Nigeria the religion is very much alive. Many people believe healers using animal parts and strange talismans can invoke spirits with their bizarre rituals, and solve their problems. And if there’s one place where voodoo priests can stock up on their creepy supplies, it’s the Akodessewa Fetish Market, in Togo’s capital city, Lome. Just think of it as an outdoor pharmacy where various animal parts, bone statues and herbs take the place of conventional medicine.

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© sanela for Artsy Spot, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Africa, animals, beliefs, bizarre, body parts, fetish market, heal, invoce spirits, priest, rituals, talismans, voodoo

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The Life of the Mighty Lions

sanela — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 07:53:03 +0000

In the 1966 edition of LIFE Photographer John Dominis went to Africa with a mission: to capture the life of wild cats at close range. After chasing cheetahs and stalking leopards, Dominis started taking pictures of the greatest cats in savanna: the mighty lions. Here go those pictures. Enjoy!

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© sanela for Artsy Spot, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Africa, life magazine, lions, photos, savanna, wild life

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Dandies from Congo

sanela — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:51:23 +0000

Congolese capital Brazzaville has a subculture known as Sapeurs. This is a society of elegant people. Men of all ages dress up in designer clothes to look like French colonialists from the 50’s and 60’s even if they really can’t afford stylish outfit. A lot of people in Congo are starving and even get into debt in order to create their wardrobe.

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© sanela for Artsy Spot, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Africa, Congo, dandy, funny, style, suit

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Rare African bats

sanela — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:33:42 +0000

National Geographic, or more specific, Michael Curran and his team brought us some amazing shots of the rarest African bats that can usually be found in Mozambique and Malawi forests. I hope you’ll enjoy watching this gallery, and maybe broaden your knowledge about bats and see some rare and lesser known bat species. Enjoy!

Rhinolophus Blasii

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Post tags: Africa, animals, bats, National Geographic, nature, photography, rare, species

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Kings in Africa

sanela — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:35:07 +0000

Between the years of 1988 and 1991, French photographer Daniel Laine spent about 12 months on the African continent tracking down and photographing figures of royalty, and leaders of kingdoms. During this time he managed to photograph 70 monarchs and descendants of the great African dynasties with his work on this series.

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Post tags: Africa, culture, kings, photos, tradition

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Greg’s frog perspective

sanela — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:43:29 +0000

Greg Du Toit – 32 year old photographer, animal painter, who always wanted to photograph the animals at the watering. He sat on the trees, and hid in the bushes – all in vain, animals, barely hearing suspicious noises, used to forget about the water and run away. As a result, Greg found a way out – he spent three months in the water up to his neck, armed with a camera. As a result, he received a unique “frog perspective” and … a whole bunch of tropical diseases.

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The African tribe of hadza

sanela — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:11:35 +0000

Hadza, the indigenous people of northern Tanzania, live in the province of Arusha, Singida and Shinyanga near the Lake of Eyasi. They talk on the isolated eponymous language. Traditional clothing for women – leather apron, men – an apron and belt of modesty. They are usually walking barefoot and in the transitions from burrs they wear sandals. Families of Hadza form small, nomadic groups. Typically, the transition to a new location takes place once every two weeks. The composition of such groups is not constant, at the request of their members, they may be combined or separated. The territories occupied by communities or “resident groups” have no clear boundaries, virtually every Hadza may live, hunt and gather food, where desired. In the dry season Hadza live together in groups of 100-200 people, and in the rainy season – re-live separate communities.

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© sanela for Artsy Spot, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Africa, Life, people, photojournalism, photos, tribe

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Ritual masks of Africa

sanela — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:52:06 +0000

Recent interpretation of rituals supplements Émile Durkheim’s views that rituals are formalized and symbolic rites—controlled and repeated behavior in the presence of the sacred—which enact society’s separation of the sacred and the profane. In the work of Edmund Leach and Mary Douglas, rituals constitute a system of symbolic actions that communicate values about society. The Manchester School of Manchester University’s Department of Social Anthropology championed a processual view that interprets rituals as a symbolic mechanism in which form, content, meaning, and a dynamic process guides, confirms, and reorders individual as well social experience and practices. Victor Turner argued that in Ndembu rituals and rites of passage, symbols are employed to stabilize individuals and society, create new social locations, and anticipate transformation by establishing a communitas, or fellowship. Jean Comaroff has argued that rituals reenact the historical and social practices of a community.

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Post tags: Africa, masks, photos, religion, rituals

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