In 1986 I made some Brazilian connections that resulted in a trip to Rio de Janeiro, continuing on to Salvador da Bahia in the north and then further to the small town of Cachoeira, three hours by bus from the capital.  Having spent so much time in Nigeria in the early 1980’s, I was interested in the way Yoruba culture was manifesting in the New World.  Inspired by the Parisian-born photographer, Pierre Verger, I loved photographing the people and the traditions that he found there many years before:  the religion and culture of candomble. Photographs 1 and 13-19 were taken in Cachoeira.  Images 16-18 are of women in trance during a candomble ceremony.

I traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico in 2001.  The portraits here are of people near the Zocalo Placa and near the central marketplace.

Other images are in the smaller villages of Teotitlan del Valle (#3, #8) and Zaachila. The woman in #2 was totally blind and I could not ask her permission to photograph-- which made me feel like I was stealing the image.  I left her all my pesos as a thank you.

 

Margo Davis