Somba Man with Pipe

West Africa 2001

An old Somba man smokes a pipe outside his castle-like home in Northern Benin.  His clothes are tattered. Most likely he doesn’t care because he doesn’t need clothing to protect him from the weather. I think he is wearing an old military coat and he does it justice with his erect posture.

His house is the ‘castle design’ typical of his tribe and he has a huge collection of fetishes to the left of the door. I’m sure there is a lot of ‘magic’ contained in those.

The Reader

El Mina Castle, Ghana 2001

El Mina Castle was built by the Portuguese in the 15th century. Originally built for the gold trade (ships could find safe harbor here) it was later used for the slave trade. It’s a huge white building gleaming in the hot African sun. As we walked through the cool shaded corridors, I spied this man reading a newspaper in an empty room. There was something about the muted colors and his clothing that attracted my eye and I got a quick shot as I passed the open door.

I showed this to an artist friend and she, too, was attracted to the image. What is it? Partly it is the stark room and those lovely shades of purple and blue. But I think it is the man’s clothing. I like those full legged pants and his polished shoes, the way he has his legs crossed…it seems so fortyish to me. He seems like a man who has pride in himself.

 I added a filter or prism to my Somba man. I recently read that if you have empty skies a filter can enhance them. It is a trial and error procedure but today I got lucky and liked the first filter I chose. (I have a “collection” of filters made from shooting things with texture, like a wall with peeling paint.) To add a filter simply paste it onto your original and you’ll get a new layer. Then change the blend mode. Usually one of these three blend modes works best…Overlay, Soft Light or Multiply. Then change the opacity to suit your taste. It can be fun if it works, if not, then you will have wasted a good bit of your time. I tell myself that I have learned something when that happens. You must try or you’ll never succeed.