The Countdown Begins: The Origins of Vodun

I’m stoked that the countdown has begun! On December 31st, I’ll be heading to Benin, Togo and Ghana for roughly four weeks to begin a project about the origins and evolution of Voodoo. As a practice of animistic worship of spirits, Vodun is the official religion of Benin and considered one of its birthplaces. I’ll be traveling with friend and fellow photographer Constantine Savvides to create a multi-continent multimedia series including still, motion, audio and text. West Africa will be the first of several locations, retracing the spread of Voodoo via the slave trade to the West Indies and Americas, to its survival in today’s organized societies. These guys, chiefs of the old slave port in Badagry, Nigeria, know what I’m talkin’ about.

I encourage you to follow my blog for in-country updates, where you’ll see us enticing boatmen to take us up river to black magic villages and feel the frantic energies of the world’s largest Vodun festival in Ouidah, Benin. A little throwback Sunday of past images taken in West and East Africa to stir the pot of adventure, culture and exploration!

Askar of the Hamar tribe in the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

Hamar children playing in the shade – Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia

The old train from Dira Dawa, Ethiopia to Djibouti City, Djibouti is a long slow uncomfortable slog through some of the most arid terrain in the world.