Capital of Dahomey, a photo from Zou, South

Photographer's Note

This is from a market area in Abomey, former capital of Dahomey, which was an independent West African kingdom for about 300 years up to the beginning of the last century, when it became a French colony. Along with most other French African colonies Dahomey regained its independence in 1960. In 1975 the country's name was changed to Benin (French spelling Bénin).

Abomey is today a fairly small town about two hours journey by bus or shared taxi north of the major city Cotonou. I didn't find Cotonou particularly nice or attractive, but I enjoyed the couple of days I stayed in Abomey. The town is mainly famous for the former royal palaces, a conglomeration of traditional buildings with an attached museum. The palace complex has been recognized by the UNESCO as a world heritage site.

One of the sources of income for the ancient kingdom of Dahomey was the slave trade. British, French and Portuguese traders established seaside forts in the coastal town of Whydah (now Ouidah) where the slaves, usually kidnapped from neighbouring inland countries, were kept before they were shipped across the sea.

I spent just over a week in Benin in March 1982 on my way towards Lagos, Nigeria, where I was to catch a flight back home after four months in West Africa.

I quite liked Benin, although it was one more country where it was important not to draw too much attention from policemen or soldiers. It was a one party military dictatorship which in 1974 had adopted Marxism-Leninism as its official state ideology. There were revolutionary slogans everywhere in the streets and the Internationale was frequently played on the national radio and from public loudspeakers.

But as long as I managed to stay out of trouble (which I did most of the time) I found people generally as friendly as in the Sahel countries to the north. I am fairly sure most of them couldn't care less about the official ideology.

After the fall of socialism in Eastern Europe in 1989 the government of Benin quickly realized no more money would come from the Soviet Union. The Marxism ideology was scrapped and the country was no longer The People's Republic of Benin.

I wasn't actually much attracted by the royal palaces and only took a handful of photos of paintings in the museum (which was enough to make the caretaker very angry). You can see one of them in a WS. Another WS shows a very offically sanctioned wall painting.

All photos were scanned from Kodchrome slides.

ikeharel, papagolf21, Royaldevon, pajaran, PiotrF, pierrefonds, jhm, jean113, PaulVDV, Fis2, COSTANTINO, sacimar, GyurMaster, mcmtanyel ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

Silvio1953 (213875) 2020-08-02 0:44

Ciao Gert, nice market scene, lovely composition with a lot of people, wonderful colors, excellent clarity and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

ikeharel (109940) 2020-08-02 0:46

Hello Gert,
A colorful picture from the street-market, action looks vibrant and overall wonderfully shown. The WS with figures of past leaders also a good documented spot.
Wish you a nice sunday,
Ike

*** Glad to know that Israel's demonstration get coverge in the Swdish media. It is importent that the whole world will see this. Thanks.

papagolf21 (152605) 2020-08-02 1:49

Bonjour, cher Gert,
Je remarque ces toits en tôle ondulée, qui doivent constituer un "cagnard" intérieur sous le soleil.
Les aliments exposés doivent souffrir également de la chaleur.
Les photos en annexe sont également intéressantes et édifiantes sur certains points politiques...
Amitiés.
Philippe

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-08-02 1:56

Gert, the activity was concentrated in that market that day. Fruit and vegetables are sold in these stalls and it attracts some customers. The metal sheets roofs and the luxuriant tropical vegetation form a nice background. Fine colors, good sharpness, regards.

lousat (134719) 2020-08-02 2:03

Hi Gert,Very interesting as always. So this small state had a history very similar to that of Cuba when the Soviet bloc fell and they found themselves without money. Very beautiful scenes, of course the market is always attractive, but the school is also a pearl, especially for the difficulties you have sustained after asking to photograph it..ehehe ..Have a nice Sunday and thanks! Luciano

pajaran (109499) 2020-08-02 2:08

Greeting.
An interesting place, well shown with beautiful colors and contrast, good text.
Good work with beautiful photos in the workshop, beautiful photos and memories.
I wish you all the best.
Paja.

Royaldevon (82006) 2020-08-02 2:11

Hello Gert,

I love this main photograph!
It is full of life,of organised chaos and amongst all that, there is this lovely lady, walking as if down a catwalk, full of self-confidence.
It's a really well composed, angled shot, and has scanned very well for colours.

I wondered, in this quite poor, relatively unsophisticated country, who was responsible for those paintings. It seemed incredible that you would need permission to film them, when they were on an exterior wall. How different it is where we live!
I was quite shocked by the African and the prestigious rifle! I can't quite identify why it shocked me so much. If he had had a spear, that would have been fine. It's almost as if we Europeans have robbed them of their culture as well as exploiting them!

Have a lovely Sunday, Bev :-)

PiotrF (53210) 2020-08-02 3:24

Hello Gert
A very nice picture from Abomey, interesting daily life scene from market.I like the dress of the woman in the foreground, good composition and wonderful colours.
Fine presentation
Regards
Piotr

pierrefonds (109320) 2020-08-02 4:24

Hi Gert,

You have captured well a daily life scene. The point of view is showing the activities at the market. The light is giving good colours output. Have a nice day.

Pierre

ktanska (42584) 2020-08-02 5:09

Hej Gert,
Very lively market view. There's so much happening on those corrugated iron roof shacks. Lady on the left with colourful dress catches attention well.
Kari

jhm (208543) 2020-08-02 6:27

Hello Gert,

I how hold my heart when this is still not is changed, anno 2020, when here corona would are present.
You chose a nice angle, this create depth and perspective.
Splendid panorama view nice sharp and clear.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards
John.

jean113 (25709) 2020-08-02 7:54

Hello Gert, a very interesting read, you have such clear memories of your trips.
The makeshift corrugated iron roofs to the market stalls provide a line that keeps my eyes concentrating upon all the people and their activities.
A woman carrying a great tray of something on her head; a mother bending over so that the baby on her back is horizontal!
The women wearing such colourful clothes also catch the eyes.
Your two w/s pictures are very informative. I am surprised by the portraits on the wall of the college. The picture from the museum is quite shocking.

Thanks for sharing, kind regards, Jean.

jmdias (109231) 2020-08-02 8:55

gert

socialism didn't make so much by them, as I can see here, probably capitalism was the same..nice details of the market area, the locals are the most interesting aspect. I was imagining how much money soviet union spent with these puppet governments around the globe..

take care

jorge

PaulVDV (59009) 2020-08-02 9:57

Hello Gert,
Your notes here and in the WS taught me more about Benin than I had ever heard before in my life.
Your main photo shows a lot of ladies in coloured dresses with beautiful patterns, but nobody is dressed in red :) One girl does have red birds on her dark dress.
So it are market stalls that we see here.
My first fear was that it was a residential area. Although, everyone looks well dressed.
Fortunately, you have requested permission to photograph the facade in the WS.
Although you can say that if one is proud of his communist heroes, they can also be photographed.
Have you never had problems in those countries when asked about your profession?
I once had problems in Syria in 1987 when an army officer asked me what I was doing there.
The answer "tourist" reminded him of "journalist" and that was not ok.
Best regards, Paul

Fis2 (163547) 2020-08-02 13:37

Witaj Gert!
Next curious reportage.
Excellent scene from daily life.
The bazaar is impressive, the woman on the left catches the eye.
Good framing, colors and sharpness.
Super scan!
Good night.
Krzysztof

Tue (87674) 2020-08-02 13:50

Hej Gert,
Et godt indtryk fra markedet, hvor der gik mange mennesker rundt omkring de små boder, nogle af dem med cykel eller knallert. Det er iøjnefaldende at mange har tøj på med farverige mønstre, som f.eks. kvinden i venstre side. Billedet er klart i det fine lys.
Lars
PS - Det går meget fint med at rejse i øjeblikket, især i Mellemeuropa, hvor situationen er ret stabil nu. Man skal bare være klar over de nugældende regler. Men ellers er det ret stille og rolig de fleste steder. Vi var på Karlsbroen i Prag i forgårs og det er vist lang tid siden at der var så få mennesker der på en solrig sommerdag.

COSTANTINO (110225) 2020-08-02 23:06

Hello dear Gert and have a nice day
your photos are unique
taken so many years ago
and presenting traditional details
and a different way of living...
every photo of yours is a great treasure
and you are the master of photos here
in TE...a whole life in one photo
this is my personal opinion...
regards
Costantino

emka (153946) 2020-08-02 23:38

Hello Gert, When I was in school, it was the time that the African countries regained independence and I had to learn by heart all of them in the chronological order (after independece date) and with the capitals. What for? It was Dahomey that time.
Excellent note as always. Difficult to believe that this photo was taken almost 40 years ago, Sharpnessand colours are fantastic. The women reminds me the view from Senegal. Wondeful scenes at the market. Funny also this picture with the "big five" and local three. I have something similar from Dubai, maybe I will show it somewhen.

Have a nice week

MAlgo

ifege (40953) 2020-08-03 0:22

Hi Gert
Apart from the sky this is a great scan from your archives. All three photos are full of interest.
cheers
Ian

sacimar (38173) 2020-08-03 6:36

Hello Gert,

good images of this place, I like this daily scene from the market, the woman with the yellow dress catches my attention, well done,

Best regards,

Sergio

GyurMaster (23398) 2020-08-04 12:22

Dear Gert,

How it comes that I missed this excellent nothing special? Maybe forcing myself to go to work after two weeks of holiday consumes my energies. Nevertheless, despite the 40 years this photo looks quite fresh thanks to the good ol' Kodachrome. Resolution is also stunning. These are technical aspects of course, the main values are the details of people doing their daily things to be observed.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

mcmtanyel (62611) 2020-08-07 21:04

Hello Gert,
I am glad nobody came running after you for having taken a photo of this marketplace. 👍🏻👍🏻 Maybe the caretaker of the museum was looking for a bribe.
Regards,
MT

kasianowak (16856) 2020-08-08 10:22

Wonderful photo of this bustling market. The lady wearing a traditional bright dress is a great point of focus and I like the diagonal composition too,
Two interesting murals in WS, each in its own way. Funny, how taking a photo of a building required a phone call to some invisible authority but at least you weren't being questioned and threatened like in Togo.