Voodoo Photo Exhibit At The Brooklyn Public Library

Last updated on: May 22, 2016 at 11:58 am by Lilith Dorsey

Voodoo Photo Exhibit At The Brooklyn Public Library 2016-05-22T11:58:50-05:00 Lilith Dorsey

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For better or worse, the closest most people can get to a Voodoo ceremony is looking at a photograph of one. Photographs can offer access to a world, shrouded in secrecy, that is unseen by most. To paraphrase one of my favorite tv shows, A world that is just as real, but not as brightly lit. This month New Yorkers have the opportunity to see photographs of this world up close. The Brooklyn Public Library is featuring an exhibit by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Gary Pierre-Pierre called Celebrating Agwe.

The photography exhibit focuses on Agwe, The Vodou Lwa of water and safe passage. The colors for Agwe are blue and white, and offerings of flowers, food, and beverages are left at, or in, the sea for him. In my book Voodoo and Afro-Caribbean Paganism I talk about how “when practitioners use the image of a saint to represent him, it is that of St. Ulrich. Other images show him as a light skinned bi-racial person with hazel eyes.” Agwe’s veve, or ritual ground drawing, often contains a fishing net, and a sailboat with the word immamou on the side. This exhibit contains images of ritual offerings and ceremony.

About the process of creating the Celebrating Agwe exhibit Pierre-Pierre said:

” This exhibit aims to shed light and understanding of Vodou, a religion brought to the new world by African slaves and is widely practiced in Haiti, Cuba and Brazil. For the last couple of years, I’ve been photographing Vodou ceremonies in Brooklyn to provide a glimpse of the somewhat secretive practices. While I’ve photographed many ceremonies, this exhibit will feature photographs of the Agoue ceremony held for the past seven years during the Labor Day weekend at Jacob Riis Park’s beachfront. Agoue, is the Vodou Lord of the Sea. The ceremony is held to pay respect and homage to the god.”

The photos are both serene and moving. Pierre-Pierre beautifully captures the sacred soul of the Voodoo religion, allowing us to grasp the true majesty of an ancient tradition. Garry Pierre-Pierre has an amazing eye for composition and light, and the photos are a delight to see. The twenty photograph exhibit is free to all members of the public, and will be on display at the Grand Army Plaza Branch of the library at 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, until May 31st.

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