Cameroon: South and West

Cameroon is wedged between West and Central Africa, and is bordered in the north by the Sahara and in the south and east by the Atlantic, giving it great geographic diversity. Its coastal regions are hot and low-lying but they rise through dense jungle, scattered with waterfalls and crater lakes, to ‘grasslands’ areas in the country’s highlands.

The chiefdoms which have governed this region for centuries remain firmly in place, and the traditional beliefs of the people continue to be strongly held. Local religious practices, variously described as ‘witchcraft’, ‘voodoo’ or ‘animism’ in reality encompass a wider range of beliefs which often overlap with imported religions such as Christianity or Islam.

In the town of Foumban, this is demonstrated at the feast of Tabaski, the West African name for Eid al-Adha. A procession of Muslim holy men, marabouts (or fortune tellers) celebrates the end of Ramadan at the chief’s compound with great pomp and ceremony. But there is a very modern element too, with an evening show by local or regional pop stars who are showered in money during their performances for the local ‘big men’.

These photographs were taken in November 2011.