Research Catalog

Title

Photographs from Benin City, Nigeria / Phyllis Galembo.

Author

Galembo, Phyllis

Publication

1985-1987.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

• 9 items (.6 cubic ft., one box); 41 x 51 cm and smaller.
• 8 photographic prints : Ilfochrome, color ;
• 1 photographic print : gelatin silver, black and white ;

Summary

Depictions of priests and worshipers, shines to deities, and ritual objects from the Edo culture in Benin City, Nigeria, in 1985, consisting of individual portraits of worshipers, some identified as priests or priestesses, in ceremonial dress for worship in their personal shrines to specific deities; group portraits of adult fraternal twins dressed for Èsàngó worship, and a mother and daughter in the mother's shrine to Òbiémwèn; and a view of a priest's shrine to Òsún. Individual shrines, depending on the deity, may consists of sculpture figures, pots, plates, strings of shells, rocks and stones, nuts, fruit, gourds, candles, painted walls, and floors marked with white chalk.

Subject

• Bini (African people)
• Orisha religion > Nigeria > Benin City
• Clothing & dress > Nigeria > Benin City > 1980-1989
• Shrines > Nigeria > Benin City > 1980-1989
• Religious articles > Nigeria > Benin City
• Nigeria > Religion
• Benin City (Nigeria) > Religious life and customs

Genre/Form

• Portrait photographs – 1980-1989.
• Dye destruction prints – 1980-1989.
• Gelatin silver prints – 1980-1989.

Note

• Title based on section title from book "Divine Inspiration: From Benin to Bahia."
• Most photographs bear photographer's signature on verso; some items bear handwritten captions on verso. One item has typewritten caption labels attached to verso.
• Images were captured in 1985, and were printed later, about 1987.
• Most images appear in the book "Divine Inspiration: From Benin to Bahia"; the one black and white image may have been used for publicity purposes.

Terms of Use (note)

• Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography (note)

• Phyllis Galembo, an American photographer and educator, has documented the connection between the West African religions of ancient Benin with the practices brought to Bahia, Brazil, by enslaved Africans; the followers and rituals of the religious practice of Voduo in Haiti; one hundred years of history of American Halloween costumes and masquerade; and the masquerade and carnival traditions of West and Central Africa, and Haiti.

Publications (note)

• Divine inspiration: from Benin to Bahia / [photographs by] Phyllis Galembo; essys by Norma Rosen [and others]; foreward by David Byrne. Albuquerque, N.M. : University of New Mexico Press, c1993.

Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Galembo, P.)

OCLC

1280906641

Author

Galembo, Phyllis, photographer.

Title

Photographs from Benin City, Nigeria / Phyllis Galembo.

Production

1985-1987.

Type of Content

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Terms Of Use

Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography

Phyllis Galembo, an American photographer and educator, has documented the connection between the West African religions of ancient Benin with the practices brought to Bahia, Brazil, by enslaved Africans; the followers and rituals of the religious practice of Voduo in Haiti; one hundred years of history of American Halloween costumes and masquerade; and the masquerade and carnival traditions of West and Central Africa, and Haiti.

Publications

Divine inspiration: from Benin to Bahia / [photographs by] Phyllis Galembo; essys by Norma Rosen [and others]; foreward by David Byrne. Albuquerque, N.M. : University of New Mexico Press, c1993.

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Research Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Galembo, P.)