"A Magnificent documenting [of] the continent's rapidly vanishing kaleidoscope of tribal rites."
-Time magazine
"A visual feast. . . But even more impressive are the pictures from behind the scenes, in the more intimate events when ceremony comes to focus on a single moment in a human life."
-New York Times Book Review
Unanimous praise and sensational international sales greeted Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher's monumental two-volume African Ceremonies, published by Abrams in Fall 1999 and currently in its fourth printing. Now, this dazzling and affordable paperback presents 89 images from African Ceremonies, all of which will be exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, beginning in July 2000.
These dramatic, intimate photographs of authentic African rituals, spanning the entire continent-the distillation of 30 years of research and travel-provide what may be the world's last look at remarkable rites of passage from birth to death, including seasonal rituals, the power and drama of royal courts, and religious ceremonies. With text by the photographers, this "masterwork" (International Herald Tribune) is now accessible to a wider audience.
CAROL BECKWITH and ANGELA FISHER, who collaborated on Abrams' African Ark, have been photographing in Africa for 30 years. Beckwith grew up in Boston and is also co-author of Abrams' Maasai and Nomads of Niger. Australian-born Angela Fisher is the author of Abrams' Africa Adorned. Periodicals such as National Geographic, Time, LIFE, People, the New York Times, and many others have reported on their achievements and featured their photographs. Beckwith and Fisher lecture frequently. They both live in London when not traveling.