The New York Times recently reviewed Congo Tales, a new book about people living in the Mbombo region near Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo. As the Times summarized it:
A team including Pieter Henket, a Dutch photographer; Eva Vonk, a Dutch producer; Steve Regis “Kovo” N’Sondé, a Congolese artist and philosopher; his brother Wilfried N’Sondé, a Congolese writer and musician; and a group of conservationists and researchers spent five years in the basin. There, they collected and translated the tales of the people of the Mbomo region. The stories were then edited by the N’Sondé brothers, a job suited to the pair who grew up with stories passed down from their grandmother.
The resulting photos are stunning. A few of my favorites:
A young woman displays her family’s totem animal, a bird, by putting a leaf over her head
The Woman in the Moon is a story about how the days of the week were established
Young boys gather around the unofficial mayor of the village, in a setting meant to replicate a story about the importance of learning from one’s elders
Simply stunning images. thanks for sharing them
LikeLike