A fisherman with his pirogue on the Niger River in the Mopti area. - Mali - 1969

Near Mopti - Boats on the Niger River - Mali - 1969

A young water carrier in the Mopti area - Mali - 1969

The port of Mopti on the Niger River. Mopti is particularly characterised by trade and crafts. The city is a trading centre for fish, cattle and grain. Important crafts are weaving, iron and leather processing, pottery and boat building (pinasses up to 50 tons). - Mali - 1969

The balafon is widespread in West Africa, especially in Guinea and Mali. It consists of wooden bars and calabashes - hollow gourds that serve as resonators. Two or three finger-thick holes are drilled into the sides of the calabashes, over which spider webs or bat wings are glued. The bars and their resonators are held together by a frame of split bamboo and strips of goatskin. Today's balaphones vary considerably in size, number of bars (between 12 and 23) and tuning. The range is usually two and a half to three and a half octaves. - Mopti - Mali - 1969

In Mopti, the inhabitants are ethnically heterogeneous. A high percentage are Fula. There are also Marka, Bambara, Bozo, Bobo and, in splinter groups, Mossi. - Mopti - 1969

Preparing the weaving threads - Mopti region - Mali - 1969

A Fula woman adorned with rich jewelry from Boré, located in the Mopti area. - Mali - 1969

A young girl from the Gourma region, Mali, offers milk in a calabash. The nomads have not adopted pottery, which is too fragile for transport purposes. However, they know how to boil liquids in a simple skin bag stretched over a wooden hoop by throwing heated stones into it. The consistency of the forms from prehistoric times to the present day is admirable. - Mali - 1969

Young woman from the town of Hombori, which lies between Mopti and Gao on the edge of the Hombori-Tondo table mountain. This area is inhabited by the Gurma tribe. - Mali - 1969

Photo Gallery