Orishas
Salvador de Bahia, Brazil 2011
Salvador gently embraces my students and I again. Birgit, Elena and Kerim were just here with me a few months ago in the December and January workshops. Paola is returning for her second workshop with me here. Our goal is to spend more time than before in the Reconcavo Bahiano, the unique countryside where I’ve been focusing my attention lately. We spend seven special days in and around Cachoeira exploring uncharted territories. We encounter many special moments like the beautiful Candomblè celebrations that we had the privilege to photograph or that village with the huge ceiba tree under which most of the villagers were hanging out. For the first time in Brazil, I felt like being in Africa. This feeling is a confirmation that the delving into the culture and life style continues to go deeper and it’s unrelenting. In the days in Salvador we get to witness and photograph the last days of the ex-chocolate factory, which is finally coming to an end. We try to capture the excitement in the air, people packing up all their belongings, hoping for a better life. I realize that it’s not a simple coincidence that I’m there. We try to capture the preciousness of these last moments of this microcosm that along with my students we have been photographing for the last 6 years. We all feel the historic importance as we move around the place attempting to photograph some significant moments. You can now see the results of this blessed workshop that we simply dedicated to the Orishas of Bahia ( The Candomblè Deities) for their graciousness with us and with our pictures. EB
