Akata Dance Masquerade, Cross River, Nigeria. 2004. Ilfochrome. 30 x 30″

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Okpo Masquerade, Calabar South, Nigeria. 2005. Ilfochrome. 50 x 50″

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Agot Dance Group, Etikpe Village, Cross River, Nigeria. 2004. Ilfochrome. 50 x 50″

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Atam Masquerader, Alok Village, Nigeria. 2004. Ilfochrome. 30 x 30″

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Ekpe, Calabar South, Nigeria. 2005. Ilfochrome. 30 x 30 inche”

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Panther Masquerade, Samaga Village, Burkina Faso. 2006. Ilfochrome. 30 x 30″

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PHYLLIS GALEMBO has traveled extensively to photograph visually stunning costumes worn by traditional priests and priestesses, carnival performers, Halloween revelers, and Haitian vodoo practitioners. These large-scale color photographs taken on location from 2005 to 2006 reflect the ritual adornment and spirituality of masquerade in Nigeria, Benin and Burkina Faso in West Africa.

She considers herself an artist, not an anthropologist, and her decisions about color, light, and background have more to do with aesthetic desires than ethnographic precision. She is focused on the invention and expressive craft of costume-making and the potential for transformation that wearing such garments allows.

PHYLLIS GALEMBO is a photographer and professor of art at the University of Albany, State University of New York where she heads the printmaking department and teaches photography

And good news: you can view her work in person at Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art Charleston until the June 26, 2010 (click for more info).

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found via http://butdoesitfloat.com/