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That's where photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher come in. For 25 years, working separately and then together, the two women have crisscrossed the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia, from Morocco to South Africa, observing and documenting traditional native ceremonies. Although not working scientists (Fisher was trained as a sociologist before she switched to photography; Beckwith came to the field from a background in art), they have studied their subjects with the thoroughness of professional researchers, visiting all but seven of Africa's 53 nations and capturing on film most of the rituals that are still practiced...
...beautiful, that has been distilled into four books (a fifth will be published in 1998, along with a CD-ROM and a documentary film) and several major articles in National Geographic (another will appear in the October issue). Most important to scholars, though, is the fact that Beckwith and Fisher are making the collection available to researchers--a priceless ethnographic archive that will endure no matter what happens to the tribes. Beckwith and Fisher, says art historian Christine Mullen Kreamer of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, "are making valuable contributions to the visual anthropology of Africa...
...photographers found Africa before they found each other. Beckwith had already photographed the Maasai when she and Fisher met in 1979. Fisher, a jewelry collector and designer, had mastered photography in order to document the body adornment of African tribespeople. Recalls Beckwith: "It only took us a week to decide to collaborate." They started with a Maasai warrior-graduation ceremony in Kenya and Wodaabe courtship rituals in Niger. Then, beginning in 1985, they spent five years photographing the everyday life of tribal peoples in the Horn of Africa, particularly Ethiopia, a project that resulted in an award-winning book called...
...past five years, Beckwith and Fisher have been concentrating on sacred rites of passage that mark major life changes: birth, puberty, courtship, healing and death. This fieldwork will continue for one more year; the photographers are currently in the field filming the Swazi reed dance in Swaziland, Ndebele marriages in South Africa and Tuareg seasonal ceremonies in the Sahara. Says Beckwith: "These ceremonies are some of the most powerful events in these tribes. They promote healing and provide a powerful new sense of identity. Some of the rituals we've photographed no longer exist. And many of those that...
...island management keeps its tenants' identities a closely guarded secret, enforced by a 45-member security force that patrols the 216-acre island. The only access to Fisher Island is by private ferry, helicopter or yacht. If that doesn't keep the hoi polloi at bay, then property prices averaging nearly $2 million will...