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Nwentoma: Visual Notes from West Africa

58 images Created 20 Aug 2015

Nwentoma: Visual Notes from West Africa features 55 black and white images of Olivier Asselin's early photography work from West Africa. Order a copy from Amazon (Canada) : http://amzn.to/1KCMV3K Contact me if you for orders outside Canada.
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  • Nwentoma: Visual Notes from West Africa features 55 black and white images of Olivier Asselin's early photography work from West Africa.
    Hardcover - Nwentoma : Visual Notes ..rica
  • Young boy at the Nyassia primary school in the village of Nyassia, Senegal, on Thursday June 14, 2007.
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  • Woman harvesting okra pods in Ghana, West Africa.
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  • Local chiefs gather outside the former slave fort of St George castle in Elmina, Ghana, on Sunday Mar 25, 2007. Ghana marked the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade by the UK. Of the millions of slaves who were sent to the New World, most came from West Africa, a large portion from Ghana. In the background in Portuguese-built fort St Jago.
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  • *** CHICAGO TRIBUNE **** Primary school
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  • Man sitting by stacks of pineapples crates on the lower deck of a cargo boat.
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  • A girl drinks water from a water pump at the Oulampane primary school in the town of Oulampane, Senegal, on Tuesday June 12, 2007.
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  • Girl writing on black board at the Mame Diarra Bousso koranic school in the village of Porokhane, Senegal, on Monday June 18, 2007.
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  • People waiting in line under a large mango tree at a vaccination site in the town of Yadè Bohou, north of Kara, northern Togo, on Tuesday Feb 13, 2007.
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  • Street scene in the town of Bafilo, south of Kara, northern Togo, on Tuesday Feb 13, 2007.
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  • Young men covered with talcum powder (used to make it more difficult for opponents to get a firm grasp) wait for wrestling matches to start during the yearly evala festival in the town of Houde, northern Togo, on Thursday July 12, 2007.<br />
<br />
During the week-long tourney, young men wrestle against peers from their own and other villages. The evala festival is not only a sporting event, but also part of the rites of passage young men from the KabyŽ ethnic group will complete as they become full-grown men. The fighters, called evalo, will wrestle on three consecutive years to show their strength and their worth as they become full members of the community. <br />
<br />
Wrestlers cover themselves with talcum powder to allegedly make it more difficult for their opponent to get a firm grasp. Rubbing hands with dirt is also a popular technique which many believe helps counter the slippery effect of talcum powder. On the eve of the first day of fighting, the father of each evalo will buy a dog for his son to eat. It is believed that the meat of the animal will endow the young man with the strength and courage characteristic to the animal.<br />
<br />
While the wrestling is reserved to young men in their early to mid-twenties, younger boys also take part in unofficial matches as they prepare to become the next evalo. Even though supporters often become infuriated when their fighter is denied the victory they think he deserves, the outcome of the wrestling matches has little importance. Winners celebrate alongside those who are defeated and more than anything else, the evala festival is a social gathering where KabyŽs come to meet each other. Many KabyŽs in the diaspora even come home to attend the event. <br />
<br />
The first day of fighting pits evalos from two halves of a same village against each other. On the next day, fighters from an entire village wrestle against their peers from a neighbor settlement before joining them and facing together a similar group on the third day of the event. After one day
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  • A woman helps young men cover themselves with talcum powder as they prepare for wrestling matches during the yearly evala festival in the town of Houde, northern Togo, on Thursday July 12, 2007. The powder, fighters say, makes it more difficult for their opponent to get a firm grasp.<br />
<br />
During the week-long tourney, young men wrestle against peers from their own and other villages. The evala festival is not only a sporting event, but also part of the rites of passage young men from the KabyŽ ethnic group will complete as they become full-grown men. The fighters, called evalo, will wrestle on three consecutive years to show their strength and their worth as they become full members of the community. <br />
<br />
Wrestlers cover themselves with talcum powder to allegedly make it more difficult for their opponent to get a firm grasp. Rubbing hands with dirt is also a popular technique which many believe helps counter the slippery effect of talcum powder. On the eve of the first day of fighting, the father of each evalo will buy a dog for his son to eat. It is believed that the meat of the animal will endow the young man with the strength and courage characteristic to the animal.<br />
<br />
While the wrestling is reserved to young men in their early to mid-twenties, younger boys also take part in unofficial matches as they prepare to become the next evalo. Even though supporters often become infuriated when their fighter is denied the victory they think he deserves, the outcome of the wrestling matches has little importance. Winners celebrate alongside those who are defeated and more than anything else, the evala festival is a social gathering where KabyŽs come to meet each other. Many KabyŽs in the diaspora even come home to attend the event. <br />
<br />
The first day of fighting pits evalos from two halves of a same village against each other. On the next day, fighters from an entire village wrestle against their peers from a neighbor settlement before joining them and facing together a similar gr
    TGO107.jpg
  • Girl selling smoked fish on the roadside.
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  • Burkinabe camel herder preparing his camels for travel in the Sahel outside Gorom Gorom, Northeastern Burkina Faso.
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  • Aboard the Yapei Queen, the only passenger ferry on Lake Volta, the world's largest man-made lake.
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  • Silhouette of person sitting under large baobab tree, Ghana.
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  • Silhouette of person sitting under large baobab tree, Ghana.
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  • A young boy stands lonely on a hazy beach at Beyin, Western Ghana. ©Olivier Asselin, 2005
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  • Fishing boat on Volta river near Ada, Ghana.
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  • Tropical waterfall, Ghana. Wli falls, highest waterfall in west africa.
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  • Boy holding bird, hunting, sling shot, cruelty
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  • Ghana amputee football team
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  • Cadling fashion. Fashion design company in Accra, Ghana.
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  • Young boys ride donkeys while they look after cattle outside Asoegoe, a the rural settlement in Ghana's Upper East Region, on Thursday July 27, 2006.
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  • A farm worker carries a basket full of cocoa pods on his head at a farm in the town of Assin Adadientem, roughly 100km west of Ghana's capital Accra on Sat. January 21, 2007.
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  • Shai Hills.
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  • Cocoa farm, Central Region.<br />
<br />
Farmer is Lawson Lanquaye Mensah, 70.<br />
<br />
Farms cocoa since 1998, his father was also a cocoa farmer in the Eastern Region.<br />
<br />
A bag of 65kg of cocoa beans sells for 572,000 cedis, the profit after paying farm workers, etc, is about 150k.
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  • Busy area in the commercial area of Makola market in Accra, Ghana, on Thursday Mar 1, 2007.
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  • Children hold cardboard black stars as they prepare to perform during celebrations held at the Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday Mar 6, 2007. Celebrations were held here and elsewhere in the country on the occasion of Ghana's 50th anniversary of independence from Britain.
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  • Ghanaian troops parade during celebrations held at the Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday Mar 6, 2007. Celebrations were held here and elsewhere in the country on the occasion of Ghana's 50th anniversary of independence from Britain.
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  • A woman helps another lift a bucket of water on top of her head at the Dikunani dam in Savelugu, northern Ghana, on Friday March 9, 2007. The only of four water sources that has not completely dried out around Savelugu, the pond is used by hundreds of people daily who sometimes walk several kilometers to fetch water. Despite the presence of mesh filters available to people who come get water, cases of guinea worm in the area have gone up sharply in the recent months.
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  • People gather to fetch water from a pond at Dikunani dam in Savelugu, northern Ghana, on Friday March 9, 2007. The only of four water sources that has not completely dried out around Savelugu, the pond is used by hundreds of people daily who sometimes walk several kilometers to fetch water. Despite the presence of mesh filters available to people who come get water, cases of guinea worm in the area have gone up sharply in the recent months.
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  • Children carrying water buckets on their heads  in Savelugu, northern Ghana, on March 10, 2007.
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  • People fill containers with water at the Dikunani dam in Savelugu, northern Ghana, on Friday March 9, 2007. The only of four water sources that has not completely dried out around Savelugu, the pond is used by hundreds of people daily who sometimes walk several kilometers to fetch water. Despite the presence of mesh filters available to people who come get water, cases of guinea worm in the area have gone up sharply in the recent months.
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  • Men finishing wooden stools in a workshop, Ghana, Africa
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