Welcome to a Yòrubá Engagement

April 18, 2008 ·  

Rain fell. Not hard but just enough to give us a few minutes to collect ourselves and observe the world through tinted windows. A few feet away uninvited cameramen stand in the light rain waiting for the bride and her sisters to emerge. The photographers are a tradition at these ceremonies. They take pictures of people, which they then develop within minutes, and then try to sell back to the unsuspecting party.

There is already a frenzy of activity: women in colorful traditional attires called “asookes” mill... [Read more]